Life's a Game
by Claire4522
Summary: The story of a Pokemon trainer and her quest for power and revenge. A tale of lessons, hardships and tears.
1. Heat Wave and Burning Memories

The sun beat down relentlessly upon the dirt road, charring weeds and darkening the soil as the day went on.

Through a heat shimmer the wavering image of a human can be seen as they travel on, regardless of the weather. The figure stops for a moment, pausing under a wilting tree for the sparse, rare shade it provides. The girl leans against the tree heavily, slowly sliding down the trunk to rest on the parched, crumbling earth.

This girl is Alexza Salamis Namiigai. Recent champion of the Kanto and Johto regions. The twelve year old had just started her Hoenn journey a few months ago and had already collect a decent team of Pokémon.

Though, while struggling through the desert of route 111 trying to make it Lavaridge town for her fourth badge, Alexza wished that Scree, her vibrava, would evolve soon and simply fly her over the mountain pass.

Alexza was worried, she was having a hard enough time dealing with the heat she had no idea what she was going to do when reaching the infamous sandstorm area of the route. Alexza let out another sigh, this is exactly why she had made Zaku and Zinita stay in Verdanturf town.

Alexza lowered her head to rest upon the worn surface of her blue-jeans, considering defeat when she was startled to attention by the pokeball hanging from her neck suddenly opening. A rather large luxio appeared from the gathering light to sit in front of her. Alexza smiled as the foreign blue-lion Pokémon rubbed his head affectionately against her arm until her arm was lifted up to rest around it's neck. Alexza ran her hand through the soft navy fur that spiked up naturally along the luxio's growing mane pulling a low content purr from the normally stoic Pokémon. The left side of her mouth lifted into a half smile.

"Hey Static…" She murmured softly as she buried her hot face in his still cool fur.

"You out here to make sure I keep going?" she asked with a light tone to her wavering voice.

She left out a soft breathy laugh as Static let out a growl of agreement.

"All right, all right. I'll keep going."

With that Alexza slowly rose to her feet, leaning on the tree for a moment as the heat made her vision swim, before starting off again following the sun baked path, Static loyally following beside her.

----------

Hours later Alexza stumbled gratefully out of the desolate sandstorm and onto the oddly mild route 112. Alexza clutched Static's pokeball tightly, having returned the unwilling Pokémon the minute the storm had started, while looking up at the red stone that formed the base of Mt. Chimney and the dangerous Firey and Jagged paths that led to Lavaridge.

"Well Static, we're almost there."

With those words Alexza started up the soft incline, following the thick cables that led to the cable car station.

Alexza scowled as she saw the large red and black 'M' scrawled messily over the directions to the cable car.

Team Magma.

The normally tan skin covering her hands paled to ashen white as Alexza clenched her fists.

_Team Magma_.

The same thrice damned Team Magma that had…

Alexza cut her thought process off right there. She knew what had happened here.

It was just another reason to come alone. She wouldn't want Zinita or Zaku to see her like this. The memory still too sharp, too fresh, to be contained or ignored.

One more reason to make this gym battle even shorter, _they_ were still out there.

A small smirk pulled at her face and her bangs shadowed her eyes. She'd find them. It was the reason she had taken up the gym challenge after all. She'd find them, and destroy them with the very Pokémon native to their base region.

She nodded to herself, content for now with the thought of revenge, and stepped into the cable car building with a soft look on her face, as though she had never entertained the thought of how many volts it would take to stop the heart of a full grown man.

-----------

Alexza's mood did not improve even through the calming cable-car ride up the mountain. As soon as she exited the building she was struck with the familiarity of the place and her stomach twisted into knots. She looked briefly at the entrance of the Jagged Path, before turning the other way and traveling farther up the plateau until she reached an entrance.

The heat emitting from the mouth of the cave was stifling and dried Alexza's eyes for a moment before she began blinking furiously. Shaking her head, Alexza pushed pass the heat and continued into the cave.

A rail had been put up along the edge of the path, allowing visitors to stare into the lava lapping at the rock below. Many trainers and joggers called out to her for a Pokémon battle, but she passed them by for once. Alexza continued down a narrow path that led far away from the tourist attractions.

Lava surrounded the small peninsula and a few rocks tumbled down the side of an opposite cliff as Alexza slowly walked down the path. Her eyes never straying from what lay at the end.

She steps resolutely onto the rounded pillar of stone, and takes seven steps forward until the palm of her hand is pressed gently against the warm monument.

_Claire Shi Namiigai_

_Protector of the Lava Spirit_

A dull thud echoed through the empty cavern and Alexza pounded her fist against the monument.

'Protector of the Lava Spirit'

What utter crap. Her sister had died here, her body incinerated and her ashes scattered over the lava.

She _died_ here. And all the locals could think of was their twisted old fairy tale.

Alexza slammed her eyes shut, futility attempting to keep tears at bay. Several droplets managing to wet the statue, others evaporating as they left her eyes from the heat.

She gave her life for these pathetic people and Pokémon! And what did she get?

A tomb with only her name and the title of a bedtime story hero.

Alexza dragged her hand down the front of the stone, nails scraping white paths along the surface. She kneeled there for a long time. Not moving, breathing shallowly, eyes still shut tightly.

Alexza slowly lifted her head and stood straight. Her arms locked behind her back as she gripped her opposite elbows in a slightly militaristic fashion. She turned sharply, spiky blond hair snapping out of it's ponytail and falling in disarray down her back.

Alexza walked swiftly out of the cavern and refused to look back.

The snapped hair tie glinting its message in firey red letters.

"_Claire"_


	2. Battle Out

AN: Wow… haha two reviews. This makes me surprisingly happy!

Imaprincess: Wow! You think this is a good story? Awesome! Thanks for reviewing and reading! I hope I don't let you down with this chapter!

Hoots Writes.: Heya Hoots! Another chapter out today….from both of us maybe? **looks expectantly at favorite story list for an update**

Well here you go, a Pokemon battle. Hope it doesn't bore anyone!

* * *

Alexza stormed from the cave, glaring at anyone who stood in her way,her arms still locked behind her back in the same militaristic fashion.

Finally, as she was about to reach the exit, an old man stood in front of her, blocking the path completely.

Alexza glared harshly at the stubborn man,

"Stand aside Elder." She asked in a detached , serious voice.

The old man stared back at her and slowly shook his head. With out a word he reached into his sleeve and pulled out a pokeball.

Alexza's eyes widened for only a moment before shaking her head slightly.

"I don't have time for this! I have places to be and you are in my—"

"Come now youngling, is that anyway to treat your elders?"

Alexza, still riled up and emotional from the visit to her sisters grave, uncharacteristically snapped back at the elder.

"Yes it is! especially if the elder in question is an annoying and persistent old man!"

The old man smiled at this, the age-lines and wrinkles lifting with his mouth.

"Defeat me little one, and I'll let you go without question. In fact I'll even let you in on a secret. But if I win young one, you clean every stall and monument within this cave."

Alexza's mouth dropped a little in shock at the thought of the number of the stalls and monuments within the massive cavern. Her sister's would be included too…

Her green eyes narrowed.

"You're on."

The old man threw his pokeball and released the Pokémon at the same time Alexza threw the great ball.

"Battle dance, Guardian!"

A Marshtomp promptly appeared and began to survey the area, it glanced back worriedly at Alexza. He wouldn't last long in this dry heat.

Alexza smiled as she saw the Pokémon that the elder had sent out.

"A Kecleon"

_Perfect._

"Quickly Guardian! Use mudslap on yourself and muddy water on the Kecleon!"

_Now with the mud coating, Guardian won't dry out as quickly, and muddy water should only help him along'_

The marshtomp began to spew thick clumps of mud into the air and onto itself, causing several spectators to make sounds of disgust.

The elder took the few moments that Guardian was distracted to order his kecleon to use fury swipes. The green chameleon-like pokemon flexed its tail and began to run towards the mud frolicking marshtomp.

Alexza placed a hand to her head in disbelief as she watched her pokemon roll obliviously in the newly formed mud puddle.

A tick mark beginning to form on her forehead as the Kecleon drew closer and closer, white claws glinting oddly in lava lit cavern.

_That's it, I've just about had it…_

"Guardian!" The pokemon looked up in confusion for several moments before coming to its senses.

The mud-fish jumped into the air and opened its mouth once more, this time unleashing gallons upon gallons of dirty brown water. The sudden tide slammed into the Kecleon sending the chameleon crashing into one of the stone pillars.

Alexza nodded to herself as she waited for the kecleon's ability to kick in.

She looked through the panicing crowd that had been swept off by the dirty tide.

_Where is it…. There!_

Alexza's eyes spotted a flash of blue as the Kecleon changed type from Normal to Water.

The trap was set.

Alexza moved to call her pokemon back the red beam already covering the marshtomps figure.

"Kecleon pursuit!"

The kecleon obeyed orders and just before Guardian was absorbed into the pokeball the Kecleon appeared out of the shadows and landed a direct hit to the Marshtomp abdomen.

Alexza scowled, it had been a good move but his kecleon was already halfway down.

"Finish it off, Marik!"

A flash appeared as a shady looking grovyle formed.

"Leaf blade now!"

The sharp green blades on the forearms of the grovyle glowed eerily and the creature blurred in front of the helpless Kecleon, the super-effective move landing a critical hit and sending the Kecleon flying through several nearby boulders.

"Nice work Marik."

The old man calmly returned the fainted Kecleon before sending out his next Pokémon.

The Pokémon that appeared was a rugged Graveler, its edges sharp and its stone body aged to a startling level of hardness.

"Leech seed Marik!"

Just one look at this Graveler gave Alexza the impression that one type superior hit wasn't going to bring it down. She'd have to plan ahead.

Marik spit out glowing seeds in a wide array to insure that there would be no escape. Several of the seeds hit their mark as vines began to grow and restrain the large boulder Pokémon.

The elder looked on un phased.

"Graveler, rollout now."

The large Pokémon tore through the thin vines with ease, even though the still glowing seeds stuck tightly to the craggy surface, burrowing into hollow indents to avoid being crushed by the now tumbling Pokémon.

"Marik quick attack jump over that Graveler then blast it with razor leaf!"

The large wood gecko Pokémon nodded and began to charge the Graveler leaving a trail of white light behind it as the Pokémon reached an incredible speed. With a massive leap that the grovyle species was famous for, the gecko turned mid jump and unleashed several groups of sharp leaves from its mouth and arms.

The large boulder Pokémon fell to its knees as the onslaught weakened it and pushed it near the edge of consciousness.

"Finish it Marik. Magical leaf!"

The glowing leafs hit their mark and the Graveler fell to the ground with a weak cry.

The grovyle hopped back to stand by Alexza's side, tilting his head in a content fashion as Alexza stroked the large leaf protruding from its head like a ponytail.

The old man appeared to be smiling even wider now as he called out his third and last Pokémon.

Alexza took a step back as the heat in the room suddenly increased with this Pokémon's presence. She recognized the Pokémon, but just in case she reached into her pocket at withdrew a pokedex.

"Camerupt, the Eruption Pokémon. Camerupt have volcanoes inside their bodies, which can erupt and spew lava from the humps on their back when angry."

Alexza's eyes darkened as she read the description.

This was the Pokémon.

Here it was, looking at her with big, stupid, brown eyes. Unknowing that one of it's brethren had killed her own kin.

"Marik. Return."

The Gecko Pokémon saluted her as it was called back.

"Battle Dance again, Guardian."

The already slightly weakened Marshtomp returned to the battle field.

Upon seeing the mud fish Pokémon the crowd scrambled to find higher ground in remembrance of the previous muddy water attack.

"Start it off strong Guardian, Water Spout followed by Water Gun"

_Water spout should give us more water to work with along with the muddy water still here not to mention help cool him down some more…_

"Camerupt turn those attacks to steam with flame thrower!"

A massive jet of flames roared into the on coming water gun filling the cavern up with a dense cloud of fog. Alexza smiled, she could still make this work.

"Guardian you know what to do, Dig: combination Fire Style!"

The old man now held a puzzled look on his face as he waited for the Pokémon to reappear from under the earth… he smiled

"Camerupt use earthquake and trap the little mud bug!"

It was Alexza's turn to smile now as the earth shook. A massive quake rocked the cavern gently, as to not set off the volcano they were battling in, and tore up the earth around the area.

Suddenly water began to shoot up from the ground surrounding the Camerupt leaving it helplessly standing on a small island soaked and weakened.

The old man held a look of shock on his face as he saw how quickly the tide of battle was turned. Alexza used his moment of hesitation against him.

"Finish it off with Muddy Water!"

The massive wave filled with debris crashed into the Eruption Pokémon, knocking it out cold and into the wall next to its trainer.

Guardian leapt out of the small newly formed pool into Alexza's open arms as she caught the Marshtomp and swung him around happily.

"You were wonderful out there Guardian" she laughed quietly. The moment was interrupted by the slow clapping of the Elder.

"Well done young one, come with me." With that the odd elder walked out of the cave, Alexza followed him a few moments later.

The man walked through the Jagged Pass calmly and Alexza realized that he must be a local of Lavaridge as he seemed to be taking the odd path that led very little resistance. The trainers they passed bowed or waved respectfully to the old man making Alexza wonder once again exactly who this elder was.

Alexza looked up minutes later to find that she was standing infornt of the Lavaridge pokemon gym.

The man looked at Alexza with a smile. "My granddaughter runs the gym here. She's still rather new at being a gym leader though so I thought that I would bring her a worthwhile challenger. We don't get many of them you know!"

Alexza was in shock.

"_You're _Mr. Moore? The old gymleader of Lavaridge?!"

The elder smiled and patted Alexza on the head before nodding and walking off. Leaving the stunned girl standing in front of the large gym.

Alexza shook herself of her stupor moments later. She looked up at the gym with a glint in her eyes as she walked back up the road towards the Pokemon center.

Her team was going to need all the rest they could get.

* * *

Well, Alexza's in Lavaridge. While, yes I know the pokemon I listed are NOT the ones used by Mr. Moore in the series I didn't know that while I was writing it. I only figured that out after I realized I didn't know Flannery's last name… So I did some digging. Well, I hope the chapter is acceptable. See you all later!

-C.N.


	3. Flame On!

AN: Wow…. Ok fight scenes in this chapter and Alexza Vs. Flannery! Note, Alexza is quite 'dark' in this chapter. Much more so than she has been before. She will continue to get more violent, though not for awhile and never while around Zaku and Zinita.

* * *

Alexza walked slowly up to the red roofed building, walking confidently through the sliding glass doors of the Pokémon center and up to the counter.

"Hello! How may I help you?" the ever cheerful Nurse Joy asked. Alexza flinched a little bit at her happy disposition.

"I need a room for the night and to have my Pokémon healed." She stated flatly.

The pink haired nurse nodded in consent, accepted the offered belt of pokeballs, and handed Alexza a wooden slate with a number and a small iron key.

Alexza eyed the number, 24, before walking off down the hall to the inn section of the center. She traveled down a darker hallway, nodding her head as she counted the numbers.

_8…10…16…22…here, 24._

She stopped and turned the iron key until a hollow click rang though the deserted hallway, and the door swung open.

Alexza's first priority was a shower, all the sweat, sand, and falling ash from the surrounding terrain had accumulated and now that the adrenalin from the battle was fading she could feel the heavy layer of grime on her skin. With a shudder the preteen quickly set off to bathe…. And to check out the infamous hot springs she had glanced at on in her way in.

* * *

_Beep Beep Beep Beep_

The shrill sound of the small red alarm attached to the side of her bed woke Alexza from a pleasant sleep. Some one was calling her room.

"_Guess my Pokémon are ready to go… wait, what time is it?"_

Alexza rubbed her eyes sleepily and glanced at the digital alarm clock

_"2:13 AM?! Wha—what's going on here…"_

Alexza quietly slipped out of bed, laced up her combat boots, and softly tread out her room down the hall. She could see a bright light illuminating the main room of the Center and could see two tall silhouettes outlined, the shadows twisted by the uniforms the two people wore.

Alexza's eyes narrowed, now fully alert due to the forming adrenalin rush. A slow grin creeping across her face.

Looks like a pair of idiots thought they could get away with harassing a Pokémon Center… _morons._

Voices came traveling down the hall only reinforcing her assumption.

"Hand over the Pokémon and no one will get hurt"

"You heard my partner! Hand 'em all over Nursie!"

Male. Both of them, one more careless than the other if his speech pattern was anything to go by. But as an…acquaintance, had taught her it really meant very little.

Alexza took a deep breath, taking a single moment to stuff all of her doubts to the far corners of her mind., she could do this. She eyed the shadows wearily once more. Taking in the height and weight difference that she normally chose to neglect.

She took a second deep breath before running into the room and lashing out a sharp kick with her dominant leg to the person closest to her.

Alexza winced as she felt her victims ribs dig into her shin, but she completed the roundhouse and was surprised when she heard a crashing sound behind her.

The young trainer turned her head slightly, cursing her long hair for obstructing her vision, in time to see the person she had kicked moments ago crash into a nearby couch.

The force behind the kick coupled with the weight of the person caused the couch to tip over and crush the person beneath it.

Alexza's eyes widened in shock, but the moment was forced to pass as another voice rang out in the night air.

"What the—"

Alexza spun to meet the second voice, and stopped dead in her tracks.

The boy, for he could not be much older than 17, was garbed in black pants, a black top, but it was the overlaying poncho and hood that gave him away.

The large Distorted M over his chest labeling him for life.

A Team Magma Grunt.

Alexza's eyes hardened and she lashed out with her left fist, only for the older boy to catch it with a startled look on his face.

The much smaller girl tugged her arm back towards her own body bringing the boy closer, only to perform a quick side kick to the older boy's stomach, driving the air from his lungs. As the grunt doubled over, Alexza took the opening and drove her left fist into the grunts skull, knocking off his ridiculous hat in the process.

The uppercut split her first three knuckles open, and blood began to drip through her fingers. The grunt was cradling his head in his gloved hands, most likely seeing double at this point the girl thought idly.

Lashing out one last time with her left leg, Alexza managed to send the teen to the floor with her second roundhouse of the night.

The twelve year old looked down at the stunned boy on the tile floor coldly, her face revealing none of her internal surprise, before driving her steel plated heel down on the juncture of his spine until she heard a crack and the boy's scream.

She turned to check on his partner, but the other boy was down as well, only his feet visible from under the overturned sofa.

Alexza calmly walked away from the pair and up to the counter. She jumped up and crouched on top of it like a cat and looked down at the hiding nurse.

"Hey." She said casually. "Would you mind giving me my Pokémon back miss?"

Nurse Joy scrambled to her feet and fled the room.

Alexza jumped back down off of the counter and made her way to the overturned couch, taking care to tread harshly on the back of the fallen boy on the floor.

She jumped on top of the couch in the same manner she had the counter and the left side of her mouth lifted into an odd little half smile as a squeak and a low groan of pain came from beneath the couch.

Nurse Joy returned several minutes later holding Alexza's belt and pokeballs. Alexza stood and pushed off from the couch, the boy under it groaning once more in pain, and landed in front of the pale nurse. She took the belt, placed it on her shoulder, straitened her Piplup pajamas and walked back towards her room to rest up for the on coming gym battle. Blatantly ignoring the nurse's question of

"Was she really going to leave those people lying there in such a state".

Alexza scoffed and rolled her eyes. The two wouldn't be going anywhere. The boy on the floor was likely slightly paralyzed by now and the boy under couch had a broken arm and had no chance of lifting the heavy sofa off of himself.

Inside, a small part of her was wailing in shock and grief of what she had just done. But the wonderful rush of revenge and justification quickly smothered that small part, and Alexza continued down the hall unperturbed.

* * *

Alexza walked into the lobby of the Pokémon Center that morning half expecting to see the two magma grunts still there.

To her great disappointment the two grunts had been removed, and the lobby cleaned and straightened.

Noting Nurse Joy's absence Alexza decided to get going while the coast was clear, lest the nurse try and take her to a police station for questioning.

Alexza made her way down the path leading towards the gym once again her fingers idly skimming over her pokeballs going over what information she knew about the gym in her head as she devised a strategy.

_It's a fire gym, so Guardian is going to be my main weapon here but who else can put up a fight? Static can stand his ground, Marik is defiantly out for this one, Scree…maybe on a last resort thing. _

Alexza nodded, now sure of her plan and stepped though the doors and into the gym.

As the doors slid shut behind her, Alexza heard the sound of a grate moving and soon steam pored into the gym, A sign was visible through the mist.

"To reach Flannery…"

Here Alexza paused and peered up through the still thin mist she was just able to make out a large battle zone on top of a ledge in front of her before the mist thickened further.

"…you must follow the natural spring's path through the holes in the ground to meet Flannery. Good luck challenger!"

Alexza looked from the sign, to the water hole in the gym floor, to the large ledge.

"Hey kid!" A voice called down to her causing Alexza to stare blankly up into the mist. "Come back again with a swim suit alright? Unless you want those clothes to shrink!"

Alexza scowled and took a few steps backwards, before charging the cliff face at a sprinting pace.

Just feet away from the rocks, Alexza preformed a decent handspring and launched herself into the air.

Alexza barely caught the edge of the cliff, sharp fingernails digging into its hard surface and she searched desperately for better purchase and, finding none, was forced to pull her self up with her elbows.

Alexza sat on the edge of cliff for a few moments, trying to catch her breath.

What she had just done was stupid and reckless. She had hardly been able to see her own hand down in the fog below, much less the cliff base or ledge.

Clapping interrupted her thoughts.

"Nice job kid! I like your style!"

A thin teenager with wild red hair walked into Alexza's Field of view. The girl wore a cropped T-shirt with a flame emblem on it that stopped directly below her chest and a pair of baggy blue-jeans.

"Names Flannery, but I bet you already knew that. Well, lets get to why you're here. Three on three sound good to you challenger?"

Alexza frowned, "My name is Alexza" she replied, before nodding in agreement.

"Three on three is good with me. Knockout or Normal?"

Flannery seemed to think for a moment before smiling.

"Lets make it interesting, A Knockout it is!"

Both trainers reached for their pokeballs, throwing them out at the same time.

"Flame on, Meg!"

"Battle Dance, Scree!"

A Slugma and Vibrava were sent out respectively.

Scree, the vibrava, flitted its wings as it began to asses it's opponent.

"Quickly Scree, use screech and then whip up a sandstorm!"

The little dragonfly like Pokémon let out a piercing sound by vibrating its wings rapidly before flying up and hiding in the newly formed sandstorm.

"uh oh…" Flannery muttered as her Pokémon wandered hopelessly in the storm, its molten body becoming heavier and weakened as grains of sand stuck to the Slugma, knocking it from side to side with the force of the winds.

"Dragon Breath now!"

A roar and a large surge of purple blue flames engulfed the slug Pokémon for several moments before the flames faded, and the slugma lay on the ground.

Flannery looked on in disbelief for a few moments before calling her Pokémon back.

"Nice work Meg, …now, Flame on Growlithe!"

The puppy Pokémon barked out cutely and prepared itself for battle.

"Battle Dance, Static!"

The blue-lion roared out its greeting and eyed the Growlithe for a moment before glaring harshly at the pup, it's ability Intimidate kicking in full scale as the Luxio held a good foot over the Growlithe instead of the usually measured seven inches.

Flannery looked shocked once more at the sight of the odd looking Pokémon.

"Whoa, never seen a Pokémon like that before… Ha! We can take it Growlithe!"

"Static Charge."

"Growlithe hit it with a flamethrower!"

A ball of electricity surrounded the luxio just as the fierce flames reached the lion, the meeting of electricity and fire caused a small explosion around Static and both trainers held their breath for a moment.

"Static! Use Spark "

Out of the smoke charged the sparking form of Static as the lion tackled to Growlithe to the ground, pumping the tiny dog full of electricity for as long as it could before being shaken off.

The growlithe staggered uneasily, wisps of electricity still coursing off of its fur and shocking the puppy even as it stood.

"C'mon Growlithe! Another flamethrower, go!"

Alexza's eyes narrowed. "Static charge again! Gain as much power as you can and hold it around you for as long as possible!"

Another explosion occurred, this one larger than the last due to the increased power form both parties.

"Thunderfang!"

All that was seen were the glowing golden eyes of the Luxio through the smoke, and then a bright flash of light that soon faded and left the trainers pondering the out come as they waited for the smoke to clear.

Sitting proudly in the middle of the field was Static, the Pokémon living up to it's feline heritage as it was calmly licking one of it's paws clean. To its left was the form of a still twitching growlithe passed out completely on its side.

Flannery pursed her lips into a flat line as she called her Pokémon back.

"Well, that's that then. Congratulations challeng—Alexza you've earned this Heat Badge!"

Flannery dropped the flame like badge into Alexza's palm.

"Now what do you say to me showing you the hot springs around here huh? Our Pokémon can rest up with us too."

Alexza smiled and nodded her head gratefully as the two girls walked out of the building.

* * *

AN: Ok, the reason the 'Three on Three' battle did not last for three rounds was because it was a Knockout battle. Meaning that the trainers could not switch Pokémon out, and the match went to whoever won the best of three matches. This battle is different from the one she fought with Mr. Moore because that was not a refereed or official match. I realize that these chapters are rather boring, but I am trying to follow a basic story line. Please bear with me I promise it gets better. To any who have played a Pokémon game you know very well that the beginning of the game is normally rather annoying and slow, well you'll see that my story is rather similar ((though I hope it's not equally annoying to my readers)). Thank you for taking the time to read and review.

-Claire4522


	4. Odd Behavior and a Boy

Alexza stretched her arms above her head, red and black tank top lifting slightly and fluttering in the cool breeze. Her grey coat wrapped around her waist twice to make sure that it would not fall during her travel back down the mountain.

The girl turned and began to walk backwards, staring back at the long and hot path she had just traveled. She was less than a mile from Mauville City and once again was in desperate need of a shower and rest. Alexza turned to look down at her constant companion who was once again giving her an odd look in response to her equally odd behavior.

"We're almost there Static… sheesh won't Zinita and Zaku be happy to see us back in one piece!"

Alexza half smiled as the luxio rumbled out a response and proceeded to run in circles around her legs until she was forced to return to walking forwards lest she trip over her own Pokémon.

The city's buildings could be seen, slowly rising up from the edge of the horizon. Alexza smiled once more as she saw the large yellow building that was Mauville's Gym. She would have to stop in and visit Mr. Wattson again to show him that she had made it through the mountain, thank you very much!

The childish thought caught her off guard. Still, perhaps it was a good thing her mood was so light. No trace of what had gone on in the Lavaridge Pokémon center should ever reach the two children. Alexza nodded solemnly to Static.

"Not a word of it Stats, okay?"

The luxio gave her a sarcastic look, as if to say: "And who am I going to tell? I am a Pokémon, if you haven't forgotten that 'small' fact."

Alexza rolled her eyes. Sometimes, too much time with one Pokémon could be a bad thing for one's psyche.

"_Hey, that cloud looks like a shuckle…"_

The wind was knocked out of her and her thoughts were scattered further as a smug looking Static curled up on her stomach. The luxio growled out his triumph, the smug upturn of his mouth and the small separate growls getting his message across.

"_That perhaps the same could be said about traveling with humans as well"_

Alexza lifted her head and glared at the oversized luxio. Who had turned his back to her and appeared to be sleeping. A smirk flitted across her face as she slowly moved her arms behind her before launching herself to her feet, sending Static flying.

The previously sleeping luxio flipped mid fall and landed on his four feet like the disgruntled cat he was. Static shot Alexza a dirty look before turning and sprinting past her, the feint white light trailing behind him giving away the fact that he was barely using his agility. The blond girl gaped for a moment before taking off down the road after her competitive Pokémon.

--------

The two arrived in Mauville just as the sun began to set. A cold breeze blowing from the shore made the darkening clouds race across the sky.

Alexza shivered and checked her watch before deciding that she had enough time to stop in and visit Wattson. Walking through the impressive lighting bolt gate unimpressed and unphased Alexza walked all the way through the gym, ignoring the calls of the younger trainers and nodding respectfully to the older ones who knew who she was. At one point a young boy in a blue baseball cap had jumped in front of the key that shut down the last electrical gate and refused to let her pass.

Alexza sighed in frustration and pulled out her badge case, the four sparkling badges made the boy's eyes widen and he blushed and stepped aside after seeing that the Dynamo badge among them. Alexza shook her had and walked past him.

"Wattson! You there old man?"

The call was one, that while odd to be coming from the normally respectful Alexza, suited the said old man just fine. If anything the man was determined to adopt Alexza as another one of his surrogate grandchildren, as he had to most of his challengers, the fact that Alexza's starter Pokémon happened to be a powerful electric type did not help her in the matter at all.

Moments after the call rang though the echoing gym Wattson appeared from behind the gym podium where he usually waited for challengers. The man's face was sweaty, what was left of his hair was sticking up at odd angles, and his hands were covered in minor burns. Alexza couldn't help but smile at his appearance.

"Messing with your traps again?"

Wattson grinned back at the young trainer before teasing her.

"Yep! Adjusting them so that _someone_ won't be able to jump them next time instead of following the rules!"

Alexza had the decency to look sheepish at his barb. She scuffed her foot on the white steel rimmed tile.

"Hey! It was the easiest way to get to you, and the things were practically screaming a challenge at me!"

Wattson shook his head sadly before placing down his tool kit and hugging Alexza.

"I see you made it back in one piece Little Spark" Wattson smiled fondly as Alexza's hackles rose, knowing very well she hated the nickname.

He placed his hand on her head and ran his hand lightly over the spiky, uneven strands of blond hair, smiling as small sparks of electricity sparked and popped as he moved his hand faster and faster. Alexza eventually became fed up with this and moved to bat away the man's hand away when Wattson's form was suddenly lit up in bright blue light for a few moments before he crumbled and fell to the ground.

Alexza's vision moved from the now smoking elderly man on the floor to the growling luxio at her feet. She shook her head, the static electricity making her hair spike up more than ever.

Alexza kneeled down next to Static and began to soothingly run her hands through his spiky mane, her hair falling back down to it's usual level of 'spikiness' as Static received the extra electricity. Alexza looked at the luxio's content face and rapped him on the nose with her index finger, she growled lightly at him to get her point across.

Zapping the robust old man was a _bad_ thing to do.

Laughter from above brought Alexza's attention back to the world around her. Wattson had risen to his feet and was now smiling at the both of them.

"Sometimes I wonder if you're more closely related to that luxio than you are to humans…"

Both Alexza and Static growled: Static in agreement, Alexza in annoyance.

The trainer rose to her feet as well and pulled out her badge case for the second time that night.

"Flannery was a piece of cake, you really had me worried Old Man!"

The red Heat Badge stood out sharply against the black inner material of the case. Wattson smiled again at Alexza.

"Well done."

With that he walked away from her into the back of the gym where he normally took on his challengers. Alexza looked around and felt the cool outside air as the gym's doors opened and the first trainers began to exit. A shiver spurred her to untie her jacket from her waist and drape it over her shoulders. She walked down the now clear path as the gym slowly shut down behind her, Wattson's voice calling out to the others that it was time to close up over the loud speaker as she stepped through the door and into the cold air.

Dusk was settling over the town, purple and blue hues making the abandoned power-plant on the lake seem more eerie than usual. Another chill crawled up Alexza's spine as she took in the dark windows and rusted gate that rested on an island in the bay of the town.

"New Mauville" it had once been called. Now it merely sat there staring at the town day in and day out. The building had always given Alexza the creeps, even though it was home to many Electric Pokémon. Looking away from the odd building Alexza headed to the Pokémon center enjoying the warmer air that seeped out of the building with the opening of the automatic door.

She walked up the counter, ready to simply hand over her Pokémon and settle into a room, when her attention was caught by a small figure curled up on a couch, his features hidden by the clothes he wore.

It was a young boy wearing a simple purple shirt and blue jeans that stopped just below his knees, around his waist was a simple belt that held only three pokeballs, and his brown messenger bag was being used as a makeshift pillow. Over the purple shirt was a grey vest that was just slightly too large for the boy, the wide hood covering a messy head of brown hair.

However, the simple style of dress wasn't what had caught her attention.

What had captivated her attention was the logo that rested where the boy's heart would have been had the vest fit him. It was a family crest, and due to the two unusual crossed scythes she could barely make out, Alexza knew who it was immediately.

Alexza smiled and walked up the sleeping boy resting a hand on his shoulder and gently attempting to rouse him from sleep.

"Wake up….Wake up now…Zaku you need to open your eyes now…"

At the sound of his name and by the third shake of his shoulder, the boy opened one blue eye sleepily. The only thing registering in his mind was that his neck hurt and that there was a blur in front of him. Slowly the blur began to take on a more definite shape.

_Blond Hair…Green eyes…Pokeball necklace…Alexza?!_

Both blue eyes snapped open in surprise. "Alexza!!" Zaku cried out tackling the older girl in a hug, a large grin of disbelief on his face.

"Sheesh! We thought you had died out there in the desert! Zinita was so scared!"

Alexza gave a small laugh and hugged the energetic boy back. A low growl tore both of their attention to the still present Static. Zaku turned to sit normally on the sofa and reached down to rub Static's ears.

"You took care of her for us didn't you?" at the Pokémon's affirmative nod Zaku grinned and pulled out a green pokeblock, holding it in the palm of his hand offering it to the luxio. "Thank you."

As Static munched on one of Zinita's homemade pokeblocks Alexza turned and raised an eyebrow at the younger trainer.

"Do you really think so little of me as to believe that _I_ would die in a _desert_?"

Zaku blushed and looked away at the older girl's teasing before looking up at her.

"Do ya think we can make it back to Venderturf? Or are we gonna stay the night here?"

Alexza looked out the window, bright stars greeted her with their light. Alexza looked back at Zaku and gestured at the window.

"What do you think Zaku?"

Zaku looked slightly upset at the prospect of being away from his sister for the night before shaking his head and rising to his feet, a grin still present on his face.

"I'll go get the rooms then"

Alexza watched as Zaku walked up the counter and started to wait in line with the other Pokémon trainers. Alexza amused herself by rolling the miniaturized ultra ball containing her newest Pokémon between her fingers. Several minutes later Zaku came running back and handed Alexza her room number and key. Alexza smiled, ruffled Zaku's hair and headed down the left hall way of the Pokémon center, checking the number as she walked.

'_24…well that's eerie._'

Alexza shook her head and thought nothing of it walking to her room, throwing her items on the bed and walking to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

As she lay under the covers Alexza turned and looked out the window to see the waxing half moon staring back down at her. She stared at it for a moment, recognizing the eerie similarity between herself and the moon, before rolling back to face the door and falling into a sound sleep.

Claire: DONE! Eh heh. Sorry about the updates. I'm really very slow at updating and writing…. Sorry. I'm going straight into ch.5 right now. Hope you enjoyed this! Also the similarity between Alexza and the moon phase would be that a waxing half moon is when the lighter side of the moon is pushing back the darker side.


	5. Night Terrors

AN: Big thank you to Hime and Hoots for the encouragement! This chapter is out early thanks to the both of you, I do hope you enjoy it. Beacuse you can be sure Zaku won't.

* * *

He was running, the wind screeching behind him, heart pumping blood through his veins. His eyes were wide with terror as he ran across the white ground, a shadow following him absorbing everything in its path into the darkness it thrived in.

He didn't know where it had come from, only that it was after him and that it's intentions were anything but pure. His breath was coming in ragged pants now, lactic acid burning trails though his muscles, tears were welling up in his eyes. But he couldn't stop, he had to keep going. He made the mistake of looking back, trying to get a better feel of what he was running from. A tendril of shadows shot forward in a burst of speed and wrapped around his ankle, sending him crashing to the ground. Panic shot through his soul and he clawed madly at the ground in a futile attempt to escape the hunting shadow.

Zaku screamed as he was finally pulled fully back into the shadow, his blue eyes searching frantically for help. But finding none he shut them harshly and felt himself begin to fall.

He landed heavily, head snapping back, face down in the cold earth, but at least he was out of the darkness. Sitting up he looked around, he was on a patch of grass surrounded by stones…

No, he was on a vacant patch of grass looking out at a cemetery

He scuttled backwards until his back met a tombstone, and he realized that his spot wasn't so vacant after all. His blue eyes trailed slowly up to the top of the stone expecting to see a skull or some other dark object adorning the monument. But in the place of something hideous was something beautiful.

Three stone flowers lay at the top of the tombstone, a small hedgehog like Pokémon smiled out from between them. His eyes slowly dragged themselves further down the stone, the date of death and birth blurred before his eyes as did the inscription… slowly he read out the name in disbelief.

"Zinita Vatonage Shironi…"

Below that was a poem, one Zaku recognized well. His sister had always demanded their mother to recite it for her, though why she enjoyed this one he never knew…

His fingertips traced the carved letters in a sate of numb shock. His mind not processing and his body rebelling, he did not hear the crinkling of the leaves or the snapping of the fallen twigs behind him.

Instead he reached out and began to read the poem under his breath:

"Surviving all to seize the hour:

A firm reward: a solitary flower.

With pinch of time to propagate –

Of seed and chance, it must await.

A firm reward: a solitary flower,

But motionless, the dainty tower.

Of seed and chance, it must await

And not by dreams or wishing fate.

But motionless, the dainty tower –

Completion lies in gusty power,

And not by dreams or wishing fate.

Unmindful patience; uncertain date:" – (Mark Slaughter)

A female voice ended the poem along with him, causing Zaku to jump and turn around. Kneeling at the end of the patch of grass was a young woman. Her features shadowed by her long spiky bangs, her blond hair trailing down to rest upon the earth. She was garbed in a black and red knee length coat, her hands covered by fingerless gloves, and a green scarf was wrapped about her neck the trails dangling to touch the earth with her hair. A bouquet of white carnation's set in the middle of the grave, obviously brought by the woman herself.

Zaku rose to his feet and took a step forward his mouth open to ask who she was, and what kind of sick joke was going on. When he noticed that not only was his foot phasing strait though the flowers, but that the woman's body was shaking with silent sobs, tears soaking the earth below her. He stopped, the combined shock of realizing that he had no control over what was going on around him, and the instinctual male fear of female tears making him pause.

"H-hey…please don't cry. She's my sister! If anyone should be crying it should be me! C'mon miss…please stop!" Suddenly, as though she had heard him, the woman raised her head, her dark green eyes staring straight at Zaku.

Zaku felt his mouth go dry, and he had to swallow several times and rub his eyes.

"Alexza…"

It was Alexza kneeling at his sister's grave, Alexza bringing Zinita's favorite flowers, Alexza _crying_ before his sister's grave. He had traveled with Alexza for several months now and he had never seen her cry before.

Zaku reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder, finding it odd that he could touch her now, and suddenly found himself staring down into a room.

Zaku's vision became blurry with the sudden transition and his head was swimming with unorganized thoughts.

He watched as a young girl with long green hair was tied and bound to a chair in the center of the room. The girl looked to be only a year old than he was and his eyes widened as he saw an oddly dressed teenager backhand the young girl, her face… she looked so familiar.

But no matter how hard he thought the names and events continued to evade him.

Things only became worse for the young girl, as she refused to tell the man anything. The blue haired teen approached her again, smiling darkly as her tears caused the blood to run down her face all the faster.

Zaku felt a red haze settle over him, this wasn't right. Some one need to stop this, but he couldn't move, couldn't look away, it was like watching a train wreck on TV; so horrible and terrifying that you can't tear your gaze from it.

Zaku watched helplessly as the young girl was beaten, whipped, and thrown into the surrounding walls many times. Her blood staining the previously immaculate surfaces with splatters of dark red as the chair creaked and clattered in protest mixing with the girl's screams.

A gun was drawn slowly from the tormenter's pocket, and pressed to the captive girl's forehead. The teen's lips moved, but Zaku could hear no sound. The girl shook her head in the negative and stared strait into the teen's eyes. Challenging him to shoot. Torture was one thing, murder was on an entirely different level.

The teen's arm shook visibly as he fought with himself, he turned his head to side and lowered the gun. The girl and Zaku exhaled in synced relief for a moment before a single word reached Zaku's ears.

"Psyche"

The bullet went straight though the back of the chair and sound rushed back in startling focus for the poor by standing eleven year old. A wave of red erupted from the girl and fell like rain back down into the room.

The teen laughed manically and rushed out a hidden door just as the main door was kicked in by another teenage, this one taller than the last.

"ZINITA!!!" The roar rang through the air with the pitter patter of falling blood in the background.

"No…" The teenage boy exhaled softly falling to his knees not caring that his clothing was soaking up the blood.

"No!" the boy's shoulders began to jerk as strangled gasps reached Zaku's ears as the older male's throat seemed to constrict as he fought against the oncoming tears.

Zaku found himself walking towards the boy, kneeling down in front of him and meeting a pair of blue eyes he knew very well.

Zaku screeched as he felt rather than saw another tendril reach out and grab his ankle, dragging him through the puddle of blood. His sister's blood. He screamed again as the dark red filled his vision blotting out any light, he couldn't breathe.

He couldn't breathe!

Zaku lurched out of bed, tangled in the dark blue sheets of the Pokémon center beds. His breath coming in fast, desperate, gulps of air. His blue eyes were wide and unseeing as he frantically clutched at the doorknob to his room. He had to get out of here. The door swung open and Zaku fell into the hall. The frightened boy scrambled quickly to his feet and scurried down the hall desperately trying to recall a number.

"_fourteen...two….twelve….twenty-four! twenty-four, twenty-four, twenty-four"_

Zaku reached room twenty four and desperately tore open the door, thanking Arceus that it was unlocked, and walked hesitantly towards the bed in the room, suddenly remembering why the room number had stuck out in his mind.

Alexza shifted in her sleep as a whimper reached her ears. She turned to see a tear streaked Zaku shivering next to the bed. She sleepily sat up and rubbed at her eyes. Patting the bed next to her gesturing Zaku to sit down. The younger boy hesitantly did so, big blue eyes staring up at Alexza uncertainly. She drew him into a hug and began rubbing his back as he gave in and began to sob and mutter incoherently into her shoulder.

"Shh…Shh…It's ok Zaku, You're safe here. You're safe now. "

His cries and sobs of protest made Alexza's brow furrow with worry. As she took his head into her hands and began to wipe away his tears with the pads of her thumbs.

Alexza stood up and out of the bed, carefully lowering Zaku into the spot where she had been laying moments ago. She sat next to him and ran her fingers through his thin hair in the same manner she used to calm Static down, hoping that it would hold the same effect on the young boy in front of her.

Slowly, Zaku's breathing evened out and his heart slowed back down as he was lulled back into a more restful sleep.

Alexza glanced at the clock, it was 5:13 in the morning. She grabbed her pack and walked to the bathroom to change out of her sleep wear. Exiting several minutes later and walking out the door down into the Pokémon center cafeteria to grab a hot cup of tea and start the morning. If Zaku was still shaken when he woke up, she'd ask about the dream. If not, then perhaps he would be better off forgetting all about it.

* * *

AN: Starting ch.6 now. I wish you all a goodnight and hope your dreams are far better than Zaku's. **smiles** Best of luck.


	6. No plan? No problem

Two hours later Zaku had still not come out of Alexza's room. Alexza looked at the clock for the fifth time that minute and decided that enough was enough. She rose to her feet and set off down the left hall in search of her room.

Alexza walked into the still dark room 24 and made her way towards the sleeping preteen on the mattress. She smiled down at the odd position the boy was in. His head was halfway off the bed, one arm trapped underneath him the other clutching at the pillow on the other side of the bed.

The girl shook her head and crawled on top of the headboard, clutching the extra pillow to her midsection, she proclaimed loudly,

"Zaku, You have ten seconds to move or I jump!"

The boy grumbled incoherently and rolled over. Alexza's smirk widened.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven…"

Zaku was beginning to stir now, his blue eyes blinking open as he gained his bearings and started to notice his surroundings. A voice was calling out to him.

"Six…Five…"

But what did the numbers mean? A feeling of dread filled his sleepy head for a moment before he cast it aside for the feel of the sheet between his toes.

"Four…Three…Two…One!!!"

The bed creaked and a scream and a loud 'Oof!' filled the air.

Zaku screamed as he was bounced off of the bed, Alexza making the 'oof' sound as her stomach came in contact first with the sleeping boy and then with the bed.

"What was that for?!"

Alexza gave the indigent boy an odd look.

"I gave you until the could of ten…"

Alexza shrugged, secretly glad that Zaku seemed to be feeling better, and walked out of the room, informing Zaku that he had twenty minutes to get ready to go to Venderturf while she gathered his stuff. With that, Alexza closed the wooden door behind her and set off to find Zaku's room.

-------

Zaku looked around, curious as to how he had ended up in Alexza's room, but shrugged off the thought and continued to dress for the day. He exited the room with a good seven minutes to spare and jogged quickly down to the lobby of the 'center.

Alexza was waiting there for him, her bag slung across her shoulders, Zaku's bag hanging from it's strap in her hand. He smiled and took his back, slinging it over his own shoulders before the two headed out.

------

"Hey! You there! Let's battle!"

Alexza and Zaku groaned in unison as the seventh trainer challenged Alexza to a battle. They were barely half way through route 117 and were at this point fed up with the battle hungry joggers and breeders that lurked this route.

Zaku let a small groan of frustration loose and dropped his bag to the ground.

"That's it! I've had it! Alexza, you ref for this one, I need to work off some steam before I go crazy!"

Alexza nodded and moved to the side, ignoring the protests of the jogger.

Zaku nodded and drew a pokéball from his belt. He waited for his opponent to throw first since it was he who issued the challenge.

The jogger scowled and sent out a dodrio, his confidence making him careless. He had seen that the kid only had three pokéballs attached to his belt. While the jogger himself only carried one on his person, it looked as though this kid thought he was tough enough to travel with only three. The kid was toast.

Zaku grinned and threw his pokéball

"Let's go, Tai!" the meditite came out and began to stretch before seeing it's opponent and calmly settling into a yoga sitting position.

The jogger's scowl intensified as he ordered his dodrio to use fury attack.

Zaku faked a yawn and watched as Tai used Detect, unordered, to stop the attack cold. He looked at the still struggling dodrio before exchanging a bored look with his Pokémon.

"Tai, knock it out with Mach Punch" The blue fighting type jumped up and slammed it's tiny fist into the large three headed bird's stomach, sending it to the ground and out of the battle.

The jogger looked on in a state of shock as Zaku recalled his Pokémon, picked up his bag and walked away, Alexza following moments later after she had collected the winning money from the still stunned jogger.

Alexza smiled, Zaku had been practicing while she had been gone there was no other explanation for it. A strange feeling welled up inside of her and it took her a moment to figure out what it was.

Pride, she was proud of him.

Alexza smiled to herself and increased her pace to catch up with the already moving preteen.

She walked up to Zaku's side and threw the money purse at his head.

"Save up for some new supplies."

And with that continued on past him. Zaku stopped for a moment, reached down and picked up the money purse that had bounced off his head.

He looked through it, realizing that Alexza must have added to the pile because no jogger would walk around with that kind of currency on him, and placed it securely in his pack before running off down the trail to catch up with the speed walking Alexza.

---------

The two reached Vanderturf a little before lunch and quickly set about to look for the house that Zinita and Zaku had stayed in. However, they did not have to look far. A green and blue blur ran into the pair tackling them both the ground in a strong hug.

"Zaku! Alexza! You're back! I'm so glad to see you! Where are we going next? Are your Pokémon ok? You have to be hungry come on and eat!"

The rapid stream of sentences and questions made the pair laugh at the girl's energy. Alexza sat up and smiled at the young energetic girl.

"How are you doing today Zinita? What did you get up to while I was away?"

The ten year old giggled in reply and ran off into one of the larger houses of the town. Alexza and Zaku smiled before following Zinita into the Yoma household.

The Yoma's were an old couple who had never had children themselves, but looked after the children of the town and knew Zinita and Zaku's parents when they had been young. The couple owned a large plot of land behind the house, so many trainers often stayed with them instead of at the Pokémon center.

For the moment though it was only Alexza, Zaku, and Zinita staying there, and, in the words of the elderly Yoma's themselves,

"They were more than enough for the old pair to handle."

The three of them traveled idly through the large house, Alexza re-telling her battle with Flannery and her stay at Lavaridge, making sure to omit any involvement of her sister and Team Magma.

Alexza relished the home cooked meal in front of her, after all her last meal had been the dry toast she had swiped on her way out of the Pokémon center in Mauville.

---------------

Unfortunately the meal ended all too soon, and the trio found themselves saying their goodbyes before long.

Alexza, Zaku, and Zinita made their way through the town. Many of the villagers they passed stopped and waved to the young siblings as they made their way towards the cave a the back of the town.

The cave would lead them back to Petalburg and onto the fifth gym challenge.

Alexza grimaced at the thought of the upcoming battle. She truly had no strategy designed for Norman, and if it was one thing she hated it was wing it in serious battles. From what she had heard Norman used Normal types with a heavy defense rate. Alexza glanced down at her belt of Pokémon resolve hardening. If she couldn't defeat a measly gym leader how was she supposed to avenge her sister? Alexza nodded to herself once more and began to rule out the possibilities in her head.

_Salazar could work, but he's still too young to deal out enough damage to a gym leader's team…. Static can pull his own weight as usual and he's fast enough to evade most heavy hitters… Marik will want to fight no matter what… and Guardian is still rested up from Lavaridge. _

She grimaced once more. The only true counter to a Normal type was a Fighting type, the one type she had yet to come across in her travel through Hoenn. There was always the chance that she could borrow Mui or Tai from Zaku, but it wasn't her style to win off of another trainer's hard work.

Alexza bit the corner of her bottom lip, she still had no real strategy but adaption. And she had the feeling that this is exactly what the gym was intended to do, throw the challenger off balance and test their perseverance.

A smile came to her face as she realized how the Gym's Badge earned it's name sake.

"The Balance Badge"

As the trio entered the dark cave, Zinita latching onto her left arm immediately, Alexza couldn't help but let her signature half smile pull at her face a bit.

She would win this. No questions asked.

------------

AN: Hey guys, sorry this chapter was not nearly as interesting as the last. I apologize for that, but not every chapter can be action. There has to be some plot otherwise I might as well write a collection of 'Oneshots' instead. Actually that might not be a bad idea. Tell me if I should do that instead of telling this story. Poll on home page. Also, next chapter will include a Gym Battle, Trouble before said Gym battle, the revealing of a new character, hints of Akumu, and more personality traits revealed. Basically, next chapter will be better! I promise!


	7. Of forests and fires

The trio exited the tunnel, a smile coming to Zinita's face as they placed more and more distance between them and the dark cave. The massive city of Rustboro was clearly seen from the ledge they were standing on, it's size dwarfing everything for miles.

Alexza smiled, glad that she would get to pass through this city again, if only for awhile.

Between the trainer's school, Devon Co. headquarters, and Roxanne the first Hoenn gym leader; Rustboro was simply a place of good memories for Alexza.

Zaku and Zinita exchanged a glance with one another before jumping off of the small ledge and racing down the hill onto the path that led into the city, leaving a stunned Alexza in their wake.

"What….Hey! Wait up! Get back here munchkins!"

----------

Zinita and Zaku jetted into the town square, Alexza hot on their heels, and continued to run through the crowd.

Zinita looked back over her shoulder to look for Alexza, and crashed to the ground moments later. She held her head as she slowly opened her eyes to see who or what she had crashed into. Her eyes widened as she saw a boy smiling down at her.

The first features that registered for the little girl were these; he was tall, a little bit taller than Alexza she noticed, and he had prettier eyes than her brother.

"Hey, are you alright down there?"

Zinita shook her hair out of her face and smiled up at the boy.

"Uh huh! I'm okay!"

She was pulled to her feet moments later by the kind boy.

"Well, it's an odd way to meet someone but, my name's Richard. What's yours?"

Zinita giggled before smiling and replying that her name was Zinita (Zin-ee-ta!), she was ten and now Richard must help her find her brother.

Richard blinked in a daze for a few moments before he found himself being dragged down the street by the surprisingly strong ten year old. He smiled riley to himself, she was going to be a terror when she grew up, and allowed himself to be pulled along behind her.

------------

"How could you lose her?!"

"I don't know! We were running next to each other one moment and the next thing I know she's gone and you're holding me in the air by the back of my shirt….Let me down!"

Alexza was standing just outside of the Pokémon center, her fist balled up in Zaku's shirt collar as he kicked and struggled to get his feet back onto the cement.

"Where did you loose her exac----"

Alexza was cut off as she found her breathing constricted by an excited ten year old hugging her around the waist.

"Found you~!"

Alexza was forced to drop Zaku to regain her balance as Zinita leaned on her further. Alexza peered over Zinita's head to look at a boy on the ground, his eyes were swirls and she smirked as she realized that Zinita must have dragged him across town with her. The question was, of course, _why_ had Zinita dragged this person with her.

"Zinita… Who is that?"

Zinita looked confused for a moment before looking down at the older boy whose wrist she had in a vice-like grip.

"Oh! This is Richard, he promised to help me find you! He's taller than you and has pretty eyes!"

Zinita grinned, pleased with herself , before dropping Richard's wrist the ground and moving to hug the air out of her brother.

-------

Richard blinked several times as he tried to get his bearings.

'_for such a small little girl she sure can move!'_

He looked up to see a girl with green eyes and blond hair standing over him, offering her hand to help him to his feet. Richard smiled at the stranger and held out his hand once he was on his feet.

"Hi, I'm Richard. Zinita mentioned needing help to find her brother… she said nothing about her beautiful sister."

Richard grinned to himself as he saw a feint blush appear on the girl's face for a few moments before she smiled slightly back, only the left side of her mouth going up, and a small laugh escaped her. His smile faltered slightly at the sad sound, her laugh sounded almost broken, for lack of a better word.

"My name is Alexza, and Zinita's not my sister."

Richard smiled, "And yet you do not deny that you are indeed beautiful. May I ask why you are traveling with them then?"

Alexza smiled her half smile again at him before gesturing the two younger trainers over.

"We ran into each other several months ago. We ended up being stuck together for nearly a week in a cave, things like that change a person. I haven't been able, or willing, to get rid of these munchkins since."

At the word 'munchkins' she ruffled the siblings heads, her smile growing stronger as they both reached out to swat her hand away.

Richard laughed at their behavior, he smiled down at the younger boy and extended his hand to him as well.

"You must be Zinita's brother, your sister has some grip you know that?"

The boy scowled at him fiercely and knocked his hand away, earning him a swat on the head from Alexza for his rudeness.

"So, where are you three headed?"

"I don't think that's any of your---"

Zaku was stopped by Zinita stomping on his foot as she rushed to explain to the elder boy.

"We're headed to Petalburg so that Alexza can get her fifth badge!"

Richard looked shocked for a moment, just now taking in the fact that Alexza held five pokeballs on her belt, and scolding himself for not noticing.

"Wow, you onto number five already? That's pretty impressive, most trainers never get that far. I've heard that Norman is tough too."

Richard paused for a moment, considering what to do.

"Well, chances upon chances, I'm headed over there to get the badge myself. Would you mind if I tagged along?"

Zaku opened his mouth, ready to tell Richard exactly what he thought about the older boy tagging along with them, but he was stopped by Alexza covering his mouth with her hand.

Alexza paused again and looked once more at Richard, trying to gain anything she could from his appearance.

He was about 5'6", was wearing the male version of the jeans she was wearing, had a long, tailed, blue military jacket over a black shirt and spiky blue-black hair that stuck out at odd angles. His skin held a light tan _(he must not go out much in the day, Hoenn's sun is relentless)_, and he had, admittedly, stunning blue eyes. She smiled to herself, if they stuck him in a cape and gave him a hat he could pass as the legendary Sir Aaron.

Alexza blinked after a few seconds before replying;

"I don't see why not. We could use a sparring partner to get ready for the gym."

With that, she turned on her heel and began to walk down the street, headed for the exit of the town, Zinita holding onto her left hand skipping along next to her.

Richard paused and looked down at Zaku.

"She's pretty cute isn't she?"

Zaku scowled at Richard and slammed his foot into the older boy's shin with a snarl of

"Stay away from her!"

Before taking off to catch up with the girls.

Richard hopped up and down for several minutes, clutching his throbbing shin, before slowly lowering his leg to the ground. His face shadowed by his bangs, a wicked smirk creeping across his face. He allowed himself a few moments to laugh, this chuckle coming out in a deeper tone than his usual voice, as though another was speaking through him.

"Life just became more interesting…"

And then, as quickly as it had come, the sinister shadow overlaying Richard was gone. And the boy ran off to catch up with his new companions.

The last few minutes a full blank in his mind.

------------

The trio stood in front of the entrance to the Petalburg forest, the large trees shading them from the still harsh afternoon sun.

Alexza smiled and took the lead, releasing Static from his pokeball as an extra precaution. Zaku followed suit, sending out Tai and Zinita's Beautifly soon fluttered behind the youngest trainer twirling as it realized that this is where it had grown up as a wurmple. Richard smiled and tossed a great ball into the air, snatching it as it fell back down. A Lucario kneeled next to Richard a few moments later before straitening up and bowing to the group before moving to stand at Richard's left side.

Alexza turned to look at Richard as he turned to look at her.

"_**You've been to Sinnoh?!"**_

Alexza was the first to respond to the synced question, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly.

"I was born there, but we moved to Kanto before my first birthday…My father caught Static here for me as a tenth birthday present…"

She trailed off, her reluctance to speak about her family shining through clearly. Richard smiled slightly.

"A distant relative of mine lives in Sinnoh, we're not sure how we're related but blood doesn't lie… anyway he gave me Luke when he was still an egg when I was about eight or so."

The Lucario nodded it's head and continued to walk down the forest path.

The Petalburg forest was rather mild in comparison to many of the other forests in the other region. In fact, it was often over looked entirely. The Viridian forest was well known for causing the deaths of unprepared trainers and Pokémon by poison or their own carelessness. The Ilex Forest shrouded in mystery, and the rumored ghosts of the Eterna Forest.

But this place would always hold a special meaning for Alexza.

As the group walked through the opening of the tree's Alexza turned her head to look deeper into the forest, smiling as she saw a glint of silver through the trees. Yes, this place would hold a very special place on her soul. As they continued to walk down the well tread path of the forest, Zaku brooding in the front of the group, Richard entertaining Zinita with the legends of Hoenn, Alexza allowed herself to drift off into her memories…

-----------**FLASH BACK----------**

"Who are you? What do you want with me?"

Alexza demanded, her left hand reaching for Marik's pokeball, glare hardening as the adult in front of her began to laugh.

"I want your Pokémon little girl…" the man paused to pull a long dagger from beneath his red cloak. "But taking your life works just fine for me!"

The man lunged at Alexza, forcing the child to leap backwards closer to the tree edge. He laughed manically talking more to himself now than her, "Yes, you're so very pretty. Much like that younger girl…that other girl. The little tramp that nearly stopped us last year!"

Normally, Alexza would ignore the ravings of a mad man. But the connections were too close, the situations and place too similar.

"Who?"

She demanded in a shaking voice, green eyes attempting to keep the steel edge in sight as the man stalked towards her.

"I never caught the tramps name, but I battled her. Skank had black tipped hair, blond, smart as heck to keep up with our boss, and was a damn good battler too. Looked a lot like you, she had red eyes though…"

Alexza's heart stopped in her throat and if it hadn't been for the glinting shine of the blade, she might have lost all focus and fallen to the ground so weak were her knees now.

She looked up through her hair to make eye contact with the man in front of her, regretting it the moment she saw the sadistic glint in them. She began to back up once more, left hand still creeping slowly towards Marik's pokeball as the man continued on with his rage induced rant.

"She beat me… badly. I lost my status as an Admin. Now I'm only a grunt…just a grunt! And, it's all her fault. All her fault, all her fault." He paused and looked at Alexza again, sanity clearly gone from his mind.

"All _your_ fault!"

He lunged at her, cruel dagger slicing the air in front of him. Alexza let out a small yelp as she threw herself to the left, the dagger leaving a clean cut along her right cheek. Alexza scrambled to her feet, slipping on the fallen leaves, she could feel the warm trickle of blood running down her neck now soaking into her already red shirt, darkening the area to a more sinister hue.

She swallowed harshly, pushing down the rising panic she felt. She turned and ran off the path, deeper into the forest, not caring if she snapped any branches or if she ripped new holes in her jeans.

She had to get away!

A large tree came into sight, and Alexza jumped and pulled herself up onto one of the lower branches, scurrying up the tree branch by branch until she felt safely hidden by the green foliage.

She watched with bated breath as the man crashed through the foresee after her. He circled the tree twice before staring up into it, looking directly at her. Alexza inhaled sharply as he began to slowly climb up after her.

"Come out of the tree little bird… I'm not gonna hurt you, not much anyways."

His cruel laugh made her limbs tremble in fear before she pulled herself together again. She had a few minutes at least.

Alexza startled as she heard the cracking of a branch, muffled cursing, and the scraping of bark and realized that one of the weaker branches she had used must have broken under his weight. She turned and saw him hanging on desperately three branches below her, one hand scraping at the tree trunk for purchase, the other holding onto the dagger that had been stuck deep into the branch above him.

Alexza grinned widely, her white teeth flashing oddly for a few moments as she jumped and landed carefully on the branch the man was so desperately hanging on to.

The girl studied her fingernails for a moment before plunging them deep into the skin between the man's knuckles, digging them in until she felt blood welling up beneath her fingertips. The man screamed and lost his hold on the dagger, limbs failing for a moment mid air before the law of gravity caught up to the situation and he plummeted back to the hard earth below.

Alexza watched him fall with the same sick grin on her face. She paused for only a second before wrenching the dagger out of the tree branch and climbing quickly down the tree to stand over her fallen victim.

She jumped on top of the injured man's back, causing the man beneath her to wretch and empty his stomach's contents onto the forest floor. She placed the tip of the dagger to the back of his head, where the skull met the spinal cord, and placed slight pressure to the spot to ensure he knew what danger he was now in.

"Who do you work for? Who killed this girl? Who killed her?"

With each demand Alexza pushed more of her body weight down upon her victim in an attempt to get him to hurry up and answer.

"Magma!" He croaked out wincing at the taste on his stomach acid in his mouth and that the feeling of cold steel on his skin. "Team Magma… Our boss, Maxie. He did it. She managed to get all the way to him before she was finally put back into her place!"

The criminal let out an insane laugh, as he felt droplets of water hit the back of his neck.

Alexza began to feel tears gathering in her eyes, and she was helpless to do anything but let them fall. Tears of grief, guilt, and anger pored from her eyes and soaked into the red uniform of the Magma grunt.

The sound of laughter reached her ears, and Alexza felt her vision waver a red haze seeming to take over her mind.

She heard the laughter turn into a scream, and then… nothing. She felt the world narrow down to a black tunnel and the last thing she felt was the cold earth and warm liquid seeping out into her clothes.

----------**FLASH BACK END------**

Alexza surfaced from her memories to see that they had reached the end of the forest. She smiled and looked back into the closely knit trees, and nodded her head once. Thanking them for keeping her secret after all this time. She looked around at the group noticing Richard staring at her with a concerned look on his face.

"Are you feeling ok Alexza?"

Alexza raised an eyebrow in response,

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

She stared at his face noticing the way his body stance suddenly became slightly defensive.

"No reason, you just had this… glare on your face as though some one had killed a puppy in front of you or something. Even Luke here picked up on you emotions." He placed a hand on the lucario's shoulder for emphasis.

Alexza shook her head in disagreement.

"Well, he was wrong. I'm fine."

And with that she ended the argument by simply walking out of the forest and onto route 104 Zaku and Zinita exiting directly after her. Leaving Richard to exchange a glance with Luke and to receive a threatening growl from Static before he too stepped out onto route 104.

-----------

The group stopped cold as the wind blew past them. Trials of ash and cinder blowing on the breeze, carrying with them the smells of destruction only a fire could wreak.

Alexza and Richard glanced at each other before they both took off down the path into the town, Zaku and Zinita running after them, Zaku keeping a tight hold on his sister's hand.

They stopped at the edge of the town, the streets empty save for the large number of firemen hurrying to and from the site. Several trainers, all belonging to the Petalburg gym, had their pokemon carrying water or throwing dirt on the smaller fires around the town.

The group ran through the town, pushing through the small crowd of people who had come to watch the final tower of flames fall on the first, and last, house.

"No…" Alexza breathed as she saw a lady arguing desperatly with one of the firemen.

Alexza elbowed past several people, not wanting to believe what had happened. She continued to push and shove her way through until she reached the frantic woman.

"Mrs. Quinn! Mrs. Quinn! What's going on?"

The woman, , turned and looked at Alexza. Her eyes were read and puffy, tears still falling down her cheeks. She turned and swept Alexza up into a hug and began to sob into the girls shoulder.

"Tony, Tony and Leum! Their still inside! Leum lost his pokeball during the panic, and he went back to look for it! And Tony, my dear Tony went after him!"

Alexza's throat began to constrict.

'_No..no no no! Not them too!'_

Alexza's eyes widened as she stood stock still, watching over the distraught woman's shoulder as the firemen dispelled the last of the flames from the house. Watching as one exited from the main entrance, shaking his head sadly.

Her heartbeat began to become erratic.

_They couldn't be, not so soon. _

Alexza gently passed Mrs. Quinn onto the nearby fireman, and ran past the man coming out of the house, jumping the blockade as though it was nothing, running into the extinguished house, screaming out for some one to answer her. Ignoring the calls of her friends and the firemen alike as she began to sprint up the charred staircase.

She raced past the closed doors and gaping holes in the house, headed for the room on the far west side. Holes littered the floor in front of her, and Alexza was forced to run faster to avoid falling through them as parts of the floor crumbled beneath her passing feet.

She eventually made it to the door, throwing it open only to find the destruction of this room to be even worse then the rest of the house.

Alexza walked slowly towards what remained of a charred table, a stone tablet lay resting on the table. She picked it up with shaking hands, and began to read it.

"_You're too slow 'lex! _

_You'll have to move faster if you're going to keep up!_

_Happy Hunting._

_-Akumu"_

Cavered just under Akumu's name was a large M, the inside of the carved M was stained red-brown. Alexza felt disgust sink into her stomach as she realized just what created the red coloring, and who it was taken from, before she tossed the tablet at the door in a sudden fit of rage.

She had not expected to hear a resounding "owww!" coming from that direction and she turned quickly to face the other person, body tense and ready for a fight.

Alexza was forced to drop her stance as she saw Zaku sitting on the ground just inside the doorway, rubbing his head. The stone tablet resting on the ground next to him.

"I know you're upset about what happened to these people, but did you really have to throw that so hard?"

Alexza attempted to smile, but not even the corners of her mouth would tilt up this time.

"They-they killed them Zaku."

She began slowly, ignoring Zaku's sudden sputtering.

"Killed them to prove a point. Ripped away two innocent lives over an old feud. They had no reason to go after this family, except for the fact that they could!"

Alexza could feel tears pricking at the corners of her eyes and she quickly blinked them back. Balling her hands into tight fists, her bangs shadowing her eyes, she slowly fell to her knees before sitting down completely.

She was completely caught off guard as she found herself drawn into a pair of arms for a warm embrace. Her eyes opened and she found herself looking over Zaku's shoulder, tear freely flowing down her face.

"I don't know who these people were. But they meant a lot to you didn't they Alexza?"

He paused, not really waiting for a reply but more to search out what he wanted to say next.

"You don't have to be so serious all the time you know. You don't have to be the strong one… I'm here to help you! And now so is that Richard-guy!"

Small hands griped onto her shoulders, "You're not alone Alexza! We-we'll help anyway we can! I promise! One day, I'll be the one protecting you!"

Alexza let out a broken laugh and let her head fall onto Zaku's shoulder.

"Yeah, that'll be the day won't it?"

She accepted his support and comfort anyway.

------------

The two exited the house together, walking side by side. Zaku's face not betraying a single thing for once. Though both Richard and Luke gave the pair understanding looks before turning and heading towards the gym with the rest trailing after them.

As they reached the entrance to the gym Richard stopped and turned to Alexza.

"I'm sorry to say that I must insist that I challenge Norman first."

Seeing that Alexza was about to protest Richard shook his finger at her and smiled.

"You're in no state to be doing anything today but resting. Watch the match, see his pokemon, get some rest and then I'll help you out tomorrow ok?"

Alexza bit her lip and looked away for a few moments, turning over the offer in her head, before finally nodding her consent and following Richard into the gym.

----------------

Standing there, back to the door, was a strong looking man. He turned as the group entered, revealing his identity.

"Norman."

Richard greeted with a small nod of his head in respect.

"I challenge you for the Balance Badge"

Norman let a smile stretch across his face.

"I haven't heard those words in a long time boy. Are you sure you want to loose in front of your friends here? Perhaps you should come back after training some more."

A scowl flashed across Richard's face, his eyes hardening and his body posture changing before their very eyes.

"I think I'm ready enough to defeat the likes of you, sir."

Richard's words were still respectful, but there was now an edge to them that had not been present in the previously issued challenge.

The smile on Norman's face grew wider as he reached and pulled out a pokeball, calling to the idle ref as he did so.

"Three on three it is then boy, come on, lets see if you have the talent to back those words of yours!"

* * *

AN: **falls over** If you don't mind me I'm going to go rest my very tired fingers and possibly take a nice nap. Merry Christmas everyone! (…or whatever holiday you celebrate!) I wish you good luck and hope you are granted a happy New Year!


	8. Balance Battle: One

Alexza, Zaku, and Zinita sat down up in the stands of the gym, obviously Norman was in the habit of putting on a show for the villagers. The three waited to see which Pokémon the two were going to call out, for at the moment to two stubborn males seemed to be in the middle of a staring match.

Alexza felt a vein begin to throb on her forehead as her impatience level began to rise. Neither of the two men had blinked in the past five minutes and, by the look of things, the two seemed content to continue the staring match well into the day.

She had had enough.

"WILL SOMEONE SEND OUT A POKÉMON ALREADY?"

Alexza blinked for a few moments as she realized that Zaku stood on the rail, hands cupped around his mouth glaring daggers back at the now interrupted men on the battle field.

Norman let lose a deep laugh and threw a pokeball high into the air, signaling the beginning of the match.

An aggressive Linoone burst forth from Norman's pokeball and rose up onto it's hind legs and growled out it's battle cry.

Richard smiled and threw up a great ball, a small Pokémon burst forth.

"Let's get started then shall we, Komadori?"

The statement was addressed to a serious looking male kirlia, it's white tendrils covering it's form in the fashion of a cloak or jacket rather than the normally seen female tutu.

The Pokémon turned once, and nodded in response to his master before focusing it's attention completely on the swift Pokémon in front of it.

"Linoone use head butt and then knock it out of here with slash!"

The thin badger like Pokémon charged forwards, it's head smashing into the much smaller kirlia sending the psychic Pokémon across the gym. The nimble Pokémon back flipped once to stop it's self from crashing into the gym's curved walls as it slid to a slow stop at the edge of the gym.

Richard frowned deeply, the linoone was much faster than he had anticipated and, if Komadori's condition was anything to go by, it hit like a truck as well. His mind raced to pull up any information he knew about linoone.

"_forest dwellers, live off of berries, good swimmers, keen sense of smell, have a habit of picking up shiny objects, can run up to 60 miles per hour in a strait line…in a strait line! That's it!"_

Richard smiled triumphantly, he had a plan.

"Komadori! Use double team and surround that linoone in a wide circle, use teleport if you have to, just keep it up as long as you can!"

Komadori nodded his head and began to flash in a confusing pattern around it's foe, it's master's thoughts sifting through it's mind.

--------------

Norman looked on calmly as his view of his Pokémon was impaired by the green and white flashes of the quickly moving Kirlia. He knew his Pokémon's weakness very well, but he wanted to see what this strange trainer was planning.

At the moment all he could see was that the opposing Pokémon was setting up for a simple mass attack pattern, one used to hit from all sides, a very basic move that was even covered by the Trainer School in Rustboro.

He caught a glimpse of his linoone, it was spinning in a circle with it's eyes closed trying to pinpoint the kirlia. While this was generally the correct move to make, if his linoone kept on spinning it was going to get dizzy very quickly.

He looked again at the blur of green and white that surrounded his Pokémon entirely. Surely the small thing was tiring by now?

He shook his head and opened his mouth to give his linoone the order to use Belly Drum and knock the small annoyance off course and out of the battle, but before he could utter a sound a terrible screeching noise was suddenly emitted from the tiny creature.

Norman doubled over and slammed his hands on his ears in a futile attempt to block out the sound.

"_What the—it's using screech! …but the command was never given is this Pokémon still wild? And how does the kid expect to be able to give out his own orders over this sound?"_

------------------

Richard clapped his own hands over his ears to muffle the sound, he had the advantage of knowing to do so several seconds before hand.

He glanced up into the stands to see the three bystanders glaring at him, Zinita actually wearing a pair of earmuffs, where she had gotten them from he never quite figured out.

'_Hit it with confusion while you can… disorient it further with Magical Leaf. See if you can't aggravate it into chasing you ok?'_

Richard smiled to himself as a feeling of confirmation filled him. He wasn't sure if he ever would get used to having the presence of another in his head, but he was willing to deal with it for his Pokémon's sake as well as his own.

Komadori continued to screech, letting up only for a moment to take a deep breath before continuing to produce the eardrum shattering sound with a vengeance for a few more moments before it finally had to stop, the strain on it's vocal cords too much for it to handle.

The kirlia came to a sudden halt, it's after images slowly merging into it's form, leaving the temporarily deaf linoone to stagger backwards as it was nailed several times with the psychic attack confusion from the remaining doppelgangers. The Pokémon shook it's head several times attempting to clear the sudden piercing feeling it felt ripping into it's skull.

The badger threw it's head back with an unheard roar, the distinct lack of sound causing the Pokémon to look around with a panic stricken view.

"Linoone! Snap out of it and use Belly Drum!"

The call rang through the heavy silence, causing all present to wince at the sudden noise, even Norman himself, as it strained on their aching ears.

His navy eyes widened as he noticed his Pokémon's lack of response. It hadn't even looked up to acknowledge him. Norman shifted his gaze from his struggling Pokémon to the smirking Richard.

The boy's stance had changed again. His hands were in his pockets, his bangs hiding his eyes, his stance emitted confidence. Norman's eyes narrowed again, something had changed. This was not the boy who had entered the match.

"What did you do to Linoone?"

A glimpse of ice-blue eyes were seen for an instant under dark bangs before vanishing again into the shadows as the boy's head shifted again. When Richard answered the question, his voice rang through the domed gym in an even tone.

"It's deaf."

A small chuckle escaped him as he sensed the rising panic of the room and cut off any of Norman's accusations with a simple sentence.

"For now. Call your Pokémon back, its going to be useless for the next three days. Komadori nearly burst it's eardrums with that attack."

Norman stood stock still, gaze flickering between the dazed linoone and the suddenly hostile challenger.

"Call it back now or we both will regret what's going to happen next."

Norman didn't move, still staring in shock as his Pokémon began to charge at the taunting kirlia, the nimble Pokémon dodging with ease, going so far as to perform acrobatics mid air, spurring on the frustrated Pokémon into further less accurate attacks.

"Call. It. Back."

The demand was nearly a growl, fragmented and bitter. As though the words were being spat out against the challenger's will.

Norman took out his pokeball and began to call back his linoone, but the badger ducked and dodged the red beam of light as it continued to pursue it's target.

Norman's eyes shifted back to catch a glimpse of the growing grin on the boy's face.

"No!"

"Komadori finish it. Use Psychic."

An unearthly howl was pulled from the linoone as the kirlia set about attacking it's very mind.

Mid way through the attack the linoone was enveloped in a red light, and disappeared back into it's pokeball.

Richard looked up at Norman, pausing for a moment to make eye contact, before calling Komadori back too.

Both trainers stared in silence again before moving to call out their second Pokémon.

"Let's go Enko."

Richard threw his pokeball first, a growlithe appearing in a small burst of fire. The puppy Pokémon barked once and shook it's head, the odd pattern on it's fur shifting as it moved.

Norman's face remained serious and wary as he called out a strong looking vigoroth.

The wild monkey Pokémon jumped up and down several times, making rapid strikes at the air with it's long claws.

Both Enko and Richard sized up their opponent, looking for any weaknesses as he had for the previous challenge.

"_It's a berserker, with the tendency to charge into things, it can not keep still because of it's rapid pulse making it very different from it's predecessor and final form. Other than that the Pokémon is a warrior on a constant adrenalin rush..."_

Norman made the first move, aware that his Pokémon was already becoming antsy.

"Vigoroth use slash!"

Richard and Enko reeled at the speed which the monkey Pokémon charged with.

"Enko! Counter with flame wheel!"

The puppy began to charge up as the vigoroth loomed closer and closer. Just as small embers were beginning to coat the growlithe's form, a sudden gash welled across it's shoulder and the puppy Pokémon was sent tumbling backwards.

Richard's eyes widened in shock and looked closely at his Pokémon's form, trying to assess the damage done in that one crippling attack.

Enko slowly rose to it's feet, already swaying slightly from the effects of blood loss. Richard exhaled heavily, and called his Pokémon back in one swift motion. Not willing to risk it's life in something as petty as a gym battle.

Norman smiled a little bit again. They were tied for number of remaining Pokémon now, Richard calling out his last.

The boy withdrew a luxury ball from a chain on his belt and promptly released Luke out onto the field.

The Lucario bowed to it's opponents before getting settled into a determined battle stance, waiting for the vigoroth to come charging.

He didn't have to wait long, the excitement of seeing a new challenge spurred the vigoroth to charge hastily at the lucario slashing it's black claws down viciously upon the spot where Luke had been standing moments ago.

"Luke, use Force Palm and then summon up a Bone Rush"

The lucario flitted into view, slamming it's glowing paw into the vigoroth's midsection for a devastating attack. Both the force of the blow and type advantage sent the vigoroth crashing into the wall of the gym, plaster and rocks rising up in the collision.

The lucario did not even pause to admire it's work as it began to twirl an unseen weapon around again and again until a faint blue form could be seen materializing within the loops.

Luke began to twirl a long, glowing, bone made of aura as though it were a Bo Staff, moving through multiple kaatas seamlessly before final stopping on a resting position, bone staff poised and waiting to be used.

Norman blinked several times, his gazing moving from the hole where his Pokémon had disappeared, to the confident stances of Richard and Luke.

A sudden howl rang through the air as the vigoroth charged out again, using façade.

Luke turned and back flipped over the charging Pokémon, throwing the bone staff at the back of the still moving Pokémon. Forming a new one mid air, the new staff already completed by the time the lucario landed.

The thrown staff exploded upon impact, damaging the vigoroth's back only enraging the berserking Pokémon further. As the vigoroth turned to continue it's attack it was launched back into the wall again by Luke's bone staff.

Another crack raced up the gym walls and more dust was sent up into the air, the vigoroth had been sent _through_ part of the wall yet again by the aura warrior.

This time, as the dust cleared, the monkey stayed down and Norman was forced to call his Pokémon back.

-------------------

The trio looked on in wonder. Zaku and Zinita amazed by the turn the battle was taking, Alexza amazed by the mild boy's sudden brutality and the lucario's talent with the staff. She had to admit, the Aura-Jackal Pokémon was very impressive, more so than she had given him credit for in the forest.

She waited, knowing at this point that she would match up Static and the linoone, Marik and the vigoroth, but what was Norman's ace?

* * *

Luke back flipped to kneel beside Richard, waiting for his next opponent to be sent out as Richard checked him over for any scrapes he might have obtained from the air born rocks and debris.

The sound of a pokeball lock clicking snapped the two's attention back to the battle field in time to see a massive form appear on the field.

The massive ape like creature was easily six feet long and must have weighed over two hundred, _closer to three hundred Richard guessed,_ pounds.

"Shit."

The moment the curse left his lips, he turned to look up in the stands. He was half expecting to have a rock thrown at his head by Alexza for cursing in front of the younger trainers. Instead he was trapped in an accurately delivered Death Glare™ and promptly attempted to smile an apology back at her before returning his attention to Norman's signature Pokémon.

Lounging in front of him was a Slaking. Richard's mind raced once again as he pulled all the information he knew on slakings together.

"_They have a massive attack stat, can't let a single blow land or that'll be the end of it. They have an equally daunting defense rate, so range special attacks are what we have to aim for. They actually have a high speed stat due to it's evolution as a Vigoroth… basically if we can't get a good hit in early on we're screwed!"_

Richard shook his head, attempting to flick back the annoyingly long bang that always seemed to rest on the bridge of his nose, several times before giving up and letting the damn thing have it's way.

He exhaled slowly and heavily before standing up tall, hands locked behind his back in a classic military stance, and nodded once to Luke.

The lucario stepped in front of it's trainer protectively, a staff already forming in it's hand from pure habit.

Norman smiled, seeing that his opponents were now ready, and ordered the massive ape to use faint attack. The slaking slowly faded out of view, and Luke closed his eyes attempting to feel the slaking's aura.

Luke suddenly jumped up into the air just as the ground below it burst into massive piles of rubble, the slaking fading back into view with it's fists through the floor.

"Luke, hit it now!"

The lucario began launching multiple bone staffs at the massive ape Pokémon, taking advantage of it's counter effective ability. Truant, while it did up the Pokémon's stats, forced the Pokémon to miss every other movement turn, allowing the opponent to attack freely. That single opening was here now, and they were going to take it.

"Force palm it while it can't move Luke!"

The lucario rushed in bravely, both palms glowing as they slammed into the lazy Pokémon's gut, the force of the blow absorbed by the Pokémon's shear body weight, though it was forced a little deeper into the ground.

Luke jumped back out of reach quickly, kneeling attempting to keep his pulse and breathing even. It was going to take all of his agility and experience to dodge the next hit.

Norman smirked, and Richard's stomach sank.

"Counter!"

"Block it with your staff if you can't dodge it Luke!"

The large ape rose up and nearly knocked Luke strait out of the air with a massive fist, the force behind the missed blow caused Luke to drift in it's wake for a moment before gravity resumed control and he was forced to land uncertainly on the ground.

Luke's red eyes widened in surprise as it sensed a presence behind it, the blue jackal had barely turned when the massive fist crashed down onto the staff held horizontally in front of the aura Pokémon, the force of the blow carried the two backwards, Luke straining to stave off the blow with the staff. Finally, they came to a slowing halt, and Luke jumped backwards, leaving the staff to blow up in the face of the slaking.

Breathing hard from the pounding adrenalin, Luke slowly sat back on his haunches and the slaking lowered itself to the ground for a doze.

Richard pursed his lips into a thin line, Luke wasn't going to be able to keep this up much longer. It was time to pull out all the stops.

"Luke, center yourself!"

The loyal Pokémon instantly knew what was about to happen next as it closed it's eyes and opened itself to the aura around it, focusing it's vision upon the humans in the room.

His trainer shined like a nova, his aura shifting from a light blue to a dark near black navy constantly, the young girl's (Zinita; Luke recalled) was a deep green shifting like fresh grass does while caught in a wind. The boy, Zaku, held an unusually strong purple aura. And the other girl's aura was a drowning scarlet, marred with dark tears and streaks all over. His 'gaze' turned to Norman, the man had little aura but a strong will the slate grey color that matched up with his Pokémon.

Luke breathed in, and out several times before leaping into the air, his red eyes snapping open as he threw his palms outwards, a ball of bright blue energy leaving him in a burst.

Richard smiled as the energy made contact with the sleeping Pokémon.

As the dust cleared a distinctly unhappy slaking now stood up, glaring around the room to see who had landed the powerful blow.

Norman looked up at Richard curiously, waiting for the name of the attack.

"Aura Sphere."

As the comment hung in the air it was recognized as the command it truly was by Luke, who promptly began to fire the spheres off in rapid sucession, each one striking the lumbering mass of slaking, until the mighty creature finally fell.

The five others within the gym stared in shock as the lucario landed gracefully next to Richard, escorting his trainer across the battle field up to Norman.

Richard held his hand out expectantly, smiling as Norman sighed and reached into his vest pocket for a moment to pull out the silver Balance Badge. The metal surprisingly cool and heavy in his hand.

Richard turned and held it up for the trio to see, bowing as the sound of clapping reached his ears.

* * *

Claire: ....that was in no way supposed to be_ that_long. I was expecting to write out this scene in under 2,000 words. However it would appear that the last chapter has cursed me back into my long-windedness and thusly you just read through an entire chapter focusing on_someone eleses_ pokemon battle. **holds head in hands** Oi vay. Well, Hime and Hoots I hope you two enjoyed the new chapter! Your comments are the only things that drive me to write these days...

**smiles slightly and waves** See you next chapter!


	9. Intermission Auras and Attitudes

Claire: Happy New Year guys! Sorry this chapter is out so late, school has started back up and I will be very busy with school so I will resolve to try and update this story at LEAST every weekend. This is an odd chapter. My take on aura and a light spar. Enjoy!

* * *

A heavy sigh broke the empty silence hanging over the interior of the Pokémon center. Alexza sat on one of the many couches in the `center's lobby, elbows resting on jean clad knees, head down, hair trailing towards her shoes.

She sighed once more, it was useless. She had gone over every stagey she could think of at least twice, none of which would be able to withstand the sheer power behind the slaking's attacks.

Alexza lifted her head as her ears picked up the sound of oncoming footsteps.

"Hey."

Alexza raised an eyebrow at the greeting but responded with a grunt of acknowledgement none the less. This time, Richard raised an eyebrow.

"Morning to you too sunshine."

He grinned sheepishly at the irritated girl and sweat dropped as he took in the glare Alexza was giving him. He waved his hands in front of himself as though to show he meant no offence, bringing a small smile to her face for the first time this morning. The older boy sighed and ran a hand through his hair,

"I have an idea."

With that Richard grabbed Alexza's upper arm and led her out of the 'center, ignoring her dazed curses and attempts to hit him as he moved towards the doors.

The pair walked, well Alexza was dragged, behind the Pokémon Center to a large training area. The patch of grassland was decked out with a small playground, a pond, a sandpit, and various boulders of all sizes. The sight of such an area was not uncommon, most 'centers had one in the back for the trainers and Pokémon to work with or simply relax about while they stayed.

As the two walked towards the middle of this clearing, a sudden crack rang though the air causing the two of them to jump back; instinct alone saving them both from being crushed under a falling tree.

Behind the newly felled tree stood, paw still outstretched, was a shocked Lucario. The blue jackal blinked once, twice, before shaking itself out of it's stupor and rushing over to check on the two 'frail' humans it had nearly squashed.

Richard shot his Pokémon a look.

"I know you're bored Luke, but I thought we agreed that trees were friends…"

Alexza smirked up at the pair from her position on the ground;

"And not food?"

The Pokémon and trainer looked at her strangely

"No; Punching bags"

Alexza gave up and fell onto her back in the still dewy grass.

"What was the point of dragging me out here again?"

Richard stood up, brushing off the clingy blades of grass that stuck to his clothing, and rested a hand on his Lucario's shoulder.

"You need to work off some steam before you can start to strategize. What you're doing now is no good for you or your Pokémon, loosen up, get your blood pumping and get your head in the zone. You'll think of something."

Richard smiled and walked away, leaving Alexza to stare up at Luke and Luke to stare down at Alexza. The Pokémon shrugged at his master's odd behavior and offered a paw to the human girl, a plot already forming in his mind.

Alexza sighed once more and accepted the offered paw. She was quickly hauled to her feet, and then suddenly launched over the lucario's shoulder. She 'flew' for a few moments in the air, stunned and still half asleep, before turning to land feet first on the trunk of tree and push back off of the rough bark to land shakily on the ground.

She whipped around, long hair flying into her face again, to glare at the traitorous Pokémon.

"What was that for Luke?"

She received no answer, though she wasn't really expecting one, except for the lucario to begin charging towards her.

Alexza blinked as she suddenly saw a glowing paw come her way, she twisted to the left and the mach punch barely missed connecting with her stomach. She was forced to duck again suddenly to dodge yet another punch this time aimed at her head,

'_Not too bad for seven in the morning…'_

Accompanying the smug thought was a small upturn of her lips, sadly the momentary distraction was all that Luke needed. Alexza didn't even notice the black knee coming at her until it impacted with her lower jaw and sent her sprawling across the ground to tumble to a stop at the base of the same tree she had pushed off of minutes earlier.

Alexza clenched her teeth as she felt her jaw throb in protest, a low growl worked it's way out of her throat as she glared at the now smug lucario.

She hadn't received a blow like that since she was eleven, and old Koga of the Johto Elite had taken her under his wing as he had promised her back when she was ten. The blond girl shuddered as she rose to her feet remembering the old, sadistic, ninja Master and his bizarre (illegal) training methods.

Rising to her feet, one hand holding onto the tree for support, Alexza slowly slid her left foot back as she settled into a more defense oriented stance. The preteen looked up and made eye contact with the Pokémon staring down at her, neither moved as the two searched the other's eyes for their next move.

In less than a second the moment severed as the sound of splitting bark and wet footsteps filled the once silent air; Alexza dived to the right and tucked into a summersault just as the Pokémon blurred out of sight. She sprung to her feet turning quickly to watch as Luke landed carefully back on the roots of the wounded tree, his left foot bleeding heavily from where the tree ripped through the skin and fur.

The aura Pokémon held out it's right paw, a blue glow forming as it spun it's arm carefully. Alexza's eyes widened as she recognized the Bone Rush that the lucario was forming, and she found herself helplessly backpedaling towards the playground as she frantically dodged the oncoming swings from the still forming aura staff.

Turning to look out of the corner of her eye Alexza took a chance and leapt backwards up onto the base of one of the many climbing courses on the playground. The Pokémon watched her, still kneeling on the ground from where the momentum of the missed swing carried him, his gaze calculating and unsettling. Alexza turned and jumped once more, fingers wrapping tightly around the bar of the metal zip line as gravity took over and propelled her towards the opposite landing base. The girl turned, glad to have at least a few feet between herself and her opponent, and began to take in the features of the small playground that she had dismissed carelessly while walking past it earlier.

Three Zip lines, two sets of monkey bars, two slides, two arching bridges, a 'bouncy' bridge, a crawling net, and two high bars. The astro-turf beneath the equipment was rubbery and uneven making it difficult to run on. Alexza looked around again, desperately trying to see what she could use to her advantage.

Her thoughts were cut off by the screeching of metal as the lucario sped towards her hanging from the zip-line's second handle, Alexza fled once more, leaping up onto one of the arching bridges and running further along the playground. Luke was hot on her heels though, bone staff still twirling menacingly behind him.

Alexza, seeing that the bridge led to a spiraling slide

-'_U__tterly useless and easy to be ambushed on'-_

allowed a state of momentary panic to over take her as she threw one leg hurriedly over the edge of the bridge, swinging the other over seconds later, the aura staff just grazing left her leg. With a yelp the twelve year old pushed off from the edge of the bridge and fell towards the monkey bars below, letting out a grunt as she caught two of the bars under her arms and slowly pulled herself up to sit on top of the structure. Her legs trembled furiously as she rose to her feet, balanced precariously on the thin bars.

Alexza looked back up at the bridge to see the lucario staring down at her calmly with slanted red eyes. Her brow furrowed momentarily as she wondered why the Pokémon had yet to move, either to follow or attack her. Realization struck her suddenly as her eyes took in the relaxed posture of the aura warrior.

'_He's waiting to see what I do next. He wants to see what I can handle…'_

Alexza pursed her lips before lowering her head to hide a smile.

'_If it's a show he wants, then it's a show he'll get'_

* * *

Luke stared down at the human girl from his position on the bridge, she was surprisingly agile for one of her kind. He had expected to end the battle with his first kick, he had in no way anticipated that the girl might have had prior training, or that the child would have been so quick on her feet.

Luke had been, as always, rather reluctant the previous night, when he agreed to a spar the next morning. His master had pulled yet another fast one on him when he had revealed that he, Richard, would not be the challenger but instead he would be sparring the girl with the bleeding aura.

He had started off slowly against her, intending to test her reflexes, strength, guard and speed before seriously challenging her. But, as mentioned before, he had not anticipated the child's speed and reflex reactions. Nor had he expected the child's skull to be so hard, his knee still throbbed slightly from where it had made contact.

But when she dodged his kick, even after receiving a blow to the head, he knew it was time to either force the child to back down or end the fight quickly. Luke called up the aura staff that had mesmerized the child during his battle yesterday, knowing that it would both impress and scare the girl.

He was correct; as realization lit up the girl's green eyes she started to back peddle immediately, instinctively placing as much space between herself and the weapon as possible. Luke refused to solidify the weapon completely though, the staff's current form would only give the child a few singed scrapes, and with a solid hit it would render her unconscious easily. If he were to form the weapon as he had the previous day, the girl would suffer things far worse than loosing conscious and minor aura burns. Humans were not built in the same manner that Pokémon were, and with her aura being as it was nothing good could come of the two interacting.

Luke grimaced inwardly as he recalled learning about the many trials and errors that the first Aura Guardians were forced to go through.

When an aura made weapon is used in it's most potent form, than the aura of the user itself can be channeled through the weapon and into the opponent.

While similar aspects are held in other move types, such as fighting, dark and psychic, none of the basic type moves would ever truly reach the victim's aura, or soul if you will. It is the concept of flowing energy through attacks that makes move types either gain an advantage or fail to affect the target at all.

Humans generally contain a smaller amount of aura than Pokémon, but a human's aura is always slightly unique and several thousand times more potent than that of a Pokémon's.

A Pokémon channels it's aura on a daily basis in every move it makes, therefore diluting the power of the aura behind the move in return for being able to use the move several times in a row. That being said, it is well known that the type of Pokémon does not determine the move range of the creature. This too is a reason for the Pokémon's diluted aura, the lower the concentration level the more flexible the power is. Logically there are some moves that draw upon a Pokémon's aura more heavily than others, examples being moves like; Hyper Beam, Focus Punch, Bide, Perish Song, the list continues. Moves similar to the ones listed above use a large portion of the Pokémon's aura often rendering the Pokémon immobile before or after using the move.

But, the reason a human's aura is so potent in comparison to a Pokémon's is because most humans can not consciously draw upon their aura. It happens from time to time, yes. A mother being able to move a car off of her child in a wreck, a sudden burst of speed when being chased, even the occasional resistance of elemental attacks. But humans simply can not call upon their aura until a time of desperate need. So their aura is limited, it is not used and the amount remains small and highly concentrated. A human's aura is constantly within their body to the point where the aura begins to reflect the human's soul, making each aura distinct.

Luke's eyes narrowed as the girl haphazardly dodged the on coming staff each time, continuing to do so even as she backed away from him. The girl's aura was strange, he had never seen an aura like hers in person, but he had read about the causes. She had a tainted aura, her original shade was most likely a burning red but something had tempered it, shadowed it, into the sickly crimson it was now. And the smeared coal tears and streaks that littered her aura only made his level of concern rise, what event occurred that would cause such a young soul to pervert in such a manner?

The back of the girl's feet had reached the divider edge of the playground, she was trapped. Luke raised his staff above his head and swung it down with the intent to end this foolish battle and reprimand his foolish master.

However, the girl seemed to be full of surprises and had managed to launch herself onto a nearby structure on the playground. Luke looked up and locked eyes with the child, his mind still focused more on the remembrance of his studies than the spar he was participating in. A small wind and the slight sound of turning wheels brought his attention back to the present just in time to see the a trail of blond hair flutter across the grounds on one of the many playthings in the area. He watched her land on the opposite platform, giving her several moments to collect her thoughts, before leaping out and grabbing onto the remaining contraption himself. His luck was not as good as the smaller human's and the metal contraption screeched out it's protest as it propelled his weight down towards the platform.

The grating sound reached the girl's ears and she jumped from the flat platform, ignoring the strange, small, connecting bridge made of poles completely, up the high bridge. The child was running now, there was no doubt that this was a complete retreat, and she had run herself into a dead end. Luke shook his head and followed after her swiftly, still impressed with the small human's speed despite himself.

He stuttered to a sudden stop as he caught a flash in her aura. For a moment, just as he had been about to reach out and grab the back of her shirt, small sharp flashes of blue and yellow had cut through her aura. They were nothing but small tendrils, and they remained for less than even a few seconds, but still an odd twist in aura is usually a sign of great alarm in a human.

As Luke refocused himself on the present once more he noticed that the girl was gone, only the unpleasant exhale of air gave away her position. The child had somehow managed to land on the mankey-bars below without harming herself further. The girl rose to her feet, steadying herself by bracing her feet on opposite rungs. The girl's aura flashed once again as she made eye contact with Luke for the third time.

The girl shifted slightly, hesitated for only a moment, and ran along the rungs of the mankey bars until she was hidden behind the form of another structure.

Luke blinked a few times from his position on the bridge, for a moment, a single moment, the girl's aura had lightened back to a churning crimson and then she was out of sight.

Luke smiled, she was shielded from normal vision, but he could still see her aura through the lifeless structures of the playground. She had stopped, waiting for him? The thought was unlikely as the human had been running on the retreat since the start of the battle, but he had known human's to do foolish things at times.

'_Arceus only knows how many times Richard almost got us both killed…'_

Luke sighed and quickly followed the path the girl had taken, running along the mankey bars with a quick efficiency that the girl lacked. As he rounded the corner he was surprised to see that the human child was not in sight, when had she moved?

The Pokémon jumped down from the mankey bars, landing on one of the many scattered platforms. He turned slowly, surveying the area with both his natural vision and his aura sight.

Acting on instinct, Luke turned sharply to receive a strong kick to the muzzle that sent him falling off of the platform to land near the base of the two high bars. The girl was standing where he had been moments before, her stance tall and strong. Luke stood and faced her, the girl jumped and swung her left leg down at his neck.

Luke was careful to turn his paw and catch the blow rather than block the blow with the back of his paw and allow the child to impale her calf on the sharp spike that rested on the back of his paws. The girl used Luke's grip to twist herself to the right, consequently sending her right leg at the lucario's skull. Unwilling to support the girl's body weight and even less willing to allow himself to be kicked, Luke threw the human girl away from himself, the tip of her shoe grazed his snout before she recovered and landed on the strange ground of the play area.

The girl was careful to keep a distance between them, Luke noticed idly. She, like most females, had strong legs but he now had reason to believe her upper body strength was lacking.

'_Or perhaps,' _he mused '_she simply knows that in a test of strength she stands no chance going up against a Pokémon.'_

She was trembling slightly too, no doubt a side effect of the adrenalin that was now coursing through her system.

Luke watched the girl carefully as she watched him in return, neither of them noticed Richard's presence until a metal pole was tossed at Alexza.

Luke sent his master a questioning glance, his answer was in the form of yet another staff being thrown to him. His master thought that the girl had trained in the staff? Enough so to keep up with Luke himself? The aura Pokémon shook his head before adjusting himself to the weight of the weapon.

The girl eyed his master warily, he was obviously not forgiven for starting this whole issue, as she reached down to pick up the staff. The girl held it in one hand before slowly turning the staff around, picking up momentum as she went until the grey metal was a blur as it passed from hand to hand.

Luke eyed the child, the show of being able to twirl a staff was meaningless unless she could keep it in her hands.

He lashed out quickly with his weapon, only to be brought to a sudden halt by the girl parrying his blow quickly before twirling the staff over end to strike at his shoulder. Luke shifted his staff to block the blow, only to have the child slide her weapon along his until she held it as a pike and struck his midsection with a vicious thrust that knocked the wind from Luke's lungs and the staff from his hands.

He staggered for a few moments before falling to the ground and emptying his stomach onto the grass. A dull thud brought his attention away from the unpleasant acidic taste on his tongue.

Luke looked up at the small human who had bested him with surprise marring his face.

The girl had dropped her staff to the ground and now offered a hand to him. Luke accept the hand warily, waiting for the girl to attempt to throw him as he had to her, but the sharp tug never came as he was gently helped to his feet.

The girl looked at him, bowed slightly, and walked away towards the Pokémon center. Stopping to scowl at his master and give a sound whack to the back of his head.

Luke shook himself, small beads of sweat flying in every direction, before he too walked towards the welcoming Pokémon center.

------------------

Alexza rung the water out of her hair once more as she sat and contemplated her new strategy.

Richard had been right, she was too tense and too stressed about the match. She had been thinking in the mindset of a chess player rather than that of a warrior.

Looking at her team that now rested in various areas of her room, she felt a bloom of shame well up in her. She hadn't even thought to ask her team what they thought of the up coming match.

Alexza smiled as Static rumbled from behind her, the soothing vibrations traveling up her back as her hand roamed through his wild mane. The large luxio took up a great portion of the bed she was sitting on. His status as perceived 'alpha male' granting him the right to sit the closest to Alexza.

Perched on top of the adjacent dresser was Scree, the vibrava scratching out a happy tune with his wings as he relaxed.

Sitting in the filled sink, just visible through the open bathroom door, was a very content Guardian; the marshtomp rolling over every now and then causing small waves to flow out over the sink edge and onto the tile floor.

Lounging in the sunlit corner to Alexza's right was Marik; the shady looking grovyle was enjoying the sun's rays and daydreaming of the battle he would have tomorrow.

A crash sounded from inside the closet as the doors opened to reveal the runt of the team and Alexza's newest Pokémon. A small green bagon staggered out of the cool, dark, enclosure to run and clutch at Alexza's ankle while making small guttural noises.

Alexza smiled and picked up the baby Pokémon, cooing to him softly as she stroked the top of the bagon's head until he calmed down. A menacing growl started up behind her and Alexza was forced to lodge a carefully placed elbow into Static's gut to silence him and stop him from ripping the smaller Pokémon to pieces.

Alexza rolled her eyes in exasperation. If there was one thing she had picked up on about Static over the years it was that he didn't appreciate anyone being close to her. In the beginning she had thought that it was only other human's he had an issue with, but as she traveled she soon noticed that Static reacted the same way around all of her Pokémon even after they had proved themselves to be trust worthy and powerful. Especially the male ones. None of the professors she had talked with would give her an answer about the luxio's strange behavior, they simply smiled at her and told her that Static was simply protective of her after being with her for so long.

While she felt that something was still funny with that statement, she accepted it as it was and eventually learned to watch as Static would integrate each new Pokémon into the 'pride' either by battling them or simply knocking them around until they submitted or grew stronger. She knew that it was simply Static's way of helping the team grow and evolve, but there where times when he took his methods too far. The most recent of which was the way he reacted around the young shiny bagon.

Static had not stopped growling at Salazar since Alexza captured him. Why this was she had no idea, but it was going to have to stop soon. Be it with the evolution of Salazar into a shelgon or with Static being confined to his pokeball when Alexza finally snapped. Which ever event occurred first.

Alexza sighed and smothered a laugh as Salazar waved his stubby arms frantically and dived head first off of the bed in a comical attempt at flying. She had no worries about his health, all bagon went through this stage and the experience caused the little Pokémon's head to become harder than steel.

The little dragon picked itself up, looked about sadly for a moment before squealing in happiness as Scree swooped down and clutched the smaller dragon with four of it's six legs and flew it around the room.

Alexza smiled once again and lay back onto Static's warm stomach, being sure to scratch him under his chin until he purred, content for now to just spend time with her beloved Pokémon.


	10. The Plot Picks Up

Claire: Hey all! I am alive! Sadly I spent my long weekend on a family trip and thusly had my precious laptop confiscated. So, I am starting this chapter on the airplane ride back home. The last chapter was obviously not my best work and I apologize for putting you all through reading that. If you have any questions on how that scene played out, feel free to PM me as my email is devious and not to be trusted. Without further ado, I bring you chapter ten. –update to this long note- Ello again! This chapter was originally going to be another gym match, but after realizing that 1) You don't want to read or sift through filler / basic trainer life and I really don't find much joy in writing it, we both win with the fact that the plot picks up---NOW!

* * *

Alexza looked straight ahead as the large sliding doors opened into the Petalburg gym.

Her hands continuously shifting from clenched fists to clinging fingers that scrabbled loosely for purchase against her dark jeans.

A low rumble came from the dark form of the luxio that gently pressed it's weight against Alexza's legs, Static offering up the only form of comfort he could to his mistress without making either appear weak in a place that valued strength above all other elements.

Alexza absently allowed her left hand to weave through the gravity defying mane of her starter Pokémon as she slowly calmed her frantic nerves.

The two walked into the building, their forms distorting as the tinted doors slid shut behind them, and locked the pair within the gym.

----------

The two startled at the ominous echo that the loud lock made, and both whirled around to look at the doors in stark disbelief, leaving their backs to the real danger.

"What's going on here…" Alexza's voice was trembling slightly, the pitch black of the domed gym sending her imagination spiraling out of proportion.

A low rumble drew the preteen from her thoughts as the smooth thud of footsteps reached her human ears. Alexza's green eyes flickered frantically in the direction from which she thought she heard the sound, but her eyes failed her and the echoes merely ricocheted off the curved walls further confusing the young girl.

She could see Static's golden eyes and large ears attempting to do the same, both human and Pokémon cursing for the ill timing and poor planning on each of their parts.

_Shit. This isn't good. Static's got good eyesight, sure he's a predator they all have decent night vision, but he's only a Luxio, not a Luxray! Not to mention shadows and shade like this can't be considered normal._

Light laughter flitted through the air space, raising the hairs of the back of Alexza's neck. A small little titter that grew louder and more malevolent with each passing second. Only one person laughed like that, there was no doubt as to the identity. No, the question was; what did she want?

_And how the hell did she find me so quickly! I thought for sure she had left town… after all it's not __their style__ to stick around after they do a job. _

"Awww is the poor wittle 'leki afwaid?"

More insane laughter sounded through the air as the speaker laughed uproariously at her own joke.

"Well, this isn't any fun now is it? After all… I wanna see your eyes when you watch them fall!"

The lights came on suddenly and the glare alone was more than enough to send Alexza and Static stumbling backwards clenching their eyes shut as their pupils contracted far too quickly.

As Alexza lowered an arm she didn't remember raising. She was able to make out the condition of the gym between her eyelashes as she blinked the multiple colored spots out of her vision.

Holes littered the walls and ground. Scorch marks and frozen hunks of ice added even more to the wrecked look of the place, but it was the muddy brown splatters on the torn up ground that had Alexza holding her breath as her weakened eyes scanned the same room once more, this time looking for a survivor. A sharp whistle drew her eyes away from the carnage that remained of the once proud gym as she whirled about, instinctively looking for cause of the noise.

"Oi! Kitten! Yoo-who~ You really should be paying more attention to lil ole me over here than the husk of a creature… lying over there!"

Alexza jerked sharply as a pair of hands grabbed her. One at the base of her neck, the other on top of her head. The girl struggled futility for a few moments, attempting to turn her face away from where the strong grip was slowly forcing her to look.

A warning pressure on her neck caused the trapped girl to slowly turn, look, and nearly loose her stomach.

Lying there, in far corner of the gym, was the very beast she had worried and fretted about besting for days. It's lidded eyes stared back at her, now empty and devoid of any life. Huge hunks were torn from it's hide and what remained of the thick pelt had been shaved off and riddled with thick slashes. It's left hand was gone, where it was she did not want to know, and only a bloody, mutilated stump was left. Bruises of varying shades and hues littered it's un-torn flesh.

This was what the proud Slaking had been reduced to.

But, the most hideous outrage of them all was the mere sight of a smaller figure suspended several feet above and behind the great beast. Bound, gagged, and swaying from the domed ceiling was Norman. His eyes almost as void as his Pokémon's as he hung staring down at the corpse of the creature he had raised through adulthood.

Another sharp rap on her neck brought Alexza's attention back to more important matters, such as the psychopath standing behind her with a fierce grip on her neck.

"What do you want?"

She had meant for that demand to come out sounding strong, but she had the feeling that her captor could feel the hesitant vibrations through her vocal cords and sense the slight trembling of her knees.

More laughter echoed back to her in reply.

"C'mon now Kitty-Cat, you should know that any sensible villain never reveals their secrets! 'Specially not this early on!"

"…I thought that was magicians."

Alexza could almost feel the frown being aimed at the back of her head.

"Tch. So like ya to be makin' jokes even if your humor sucks. Feh, well Ms. Meow, I've got lots to do so lets make this short neh? Same rules, same stakes. And, here, I'll even throw in the bland man and his badge!"

The pressure was released from her neck and she could hear the light taps on the ground as her assailant flipped gracefully across the battle ground.

The young blond turned and locked her determined green eyes with insane golden-amber.

"Deal."

----------

Alexza reached and quickly drew off one of the pokeballs hanging from her belts. As she prepared to summon her Pokémon she was interrupted by her ever annoying foe.

"Ah ah ah! I want the oath… Don't give me that look! You call on it all the time ya goodie two shoes wimp!"

A sharp sigh killed the tension as Alexza began the ridiculous oath (how it was created and agreed upon in the first place was beyond her)

"I, Alexza Salamis Namigaii, trainer from Saffron City of Kanto originating from Sunnyshore City of Sinnoh, first daughter of Simantikos Namigaii, make the Shade's Oath TM upon this time and situation. 突貫(1)."(2)

The other girl smirked and Alexza swore she could see the shadow's on the ground twisting savagely as the last foreign syllables fell from her lips. She knew not what she was saying, just that it was right.

"I, Akumu Kenki Fukumen, mercenary assassin of the Shaded Blades, second child of a blotted out family, make the Shade's Oath upon this time and situation. 悪因(3).

---------

Alexza didn't know what Akumu was saying, but never the less the last words had come out almost as a hiss and the feeling of ice sliding down her spine returned as she fought off the violent shivers that the odd words induced. She wouldn't ever let the other girl know how disturbed she was able to make her with a few simple words.

The sound of a pokeball enlarging snapped her out of her thoughts quickly and a grin threatened to appear on her face as she saw Akumu call out her Pokémon.

The grin wavered and slowly fell into a scowl as, instead of the Sneasel she had expected to see, a large, striped, feral looking Charizard glared down at the young trainer with a glint in it's eyes that matched the insanity held by it's mistress.

"…crud. You're not playing around are you Akumu? What's going on here, what's so big that you'd have to get serious with 'a kid like me'?"

A scowl marred Akumu's face, the serious expression sent alarms ringing throughout all of Alexza's 'fight or flight' reactions. The furrowing of the purple haired girl's brow combined with one of her fiercest Pokémon hovering behind her forcefully reminded Alexza exactly who she was dealing with.

'_I think I liked her better when she was grinning…'_

Not that the 'Cheshire Cat' grin that Akumu was always wearing was comforting by _any_ definition of the word.

But it was a far cry better than this.

Akumu shook her head in response, dark bangs feathering across her face, her golden eyes clear and serious.

"Choose."

-----------

Alexza licked her dry lips for a moment, right hand hovering anxiously over her belt, knowing that she was lucky to be allowed the chance to fight back but unwilling to send out one of her team to a near certain defeat.

'_Not Static.'_

Her first thought revolving around her starter reminded and prompted her to imprison the electric lion in his pokeball before he could attack on his own.

Her left hand fell from where it had rested near her neck, where it had gripped Static's pokeball, to hang uselessly at her side, clenching and unclenching into a fist. Her right hand danced along her line up once more, fingertips just grazing the surface of her Pokémon's homes.

'_Defiantly not Marik! Scree…could hold his own for a while at least. Guardian, would have type advantage but he's outmatched in this power struggle. Salazar… no! he's just a youngling. Scree it is then…'_

She gripped the pokeball tightly as she enlarged it, wasting precious moments as she stared at it's surface with remorse in her eyes, before throwing the ball and calling out her small dragonfly Pokémon into the battle of it's life.

---------

Scree, Alexza decided, was suicidal.

The thought came to her as she watched her three foot dragonfly dive bomb the two hundred pound red beast once again, Scree's thin wings a mere blur of green as it narrowly avoided yet another Dragon Pulse and turned back around to unleash it's own stream of Dragon Breath on the battle tough hide of Akumu's Charizard.

The larger dragon roared in irritation, for the flames still licking at it's hide were a mere tickle to the old monster, and it opened it's maw to unleash a stream of angry flames larger than it's target.

"Scree! Sandstorm now!!"

Alexza screamed out the command desperately, panic lacing through her being as the heat from the attack reached her spot on the ground far below.

But the vibrava was steps ahead of his trainer and had already unleashed a tornado of sand at the oncoming flames, smothering them as they came close. The wild winds ripped up the debris from the destroyed gym even taking and adding the littered hunks of sharp ice.

The one tornado dispersed after it blocked the flames and began coiling around the vibrava in a sphere, sand rushing from one area to another to stave off the increadible attacks launched off relentlessly by the opposing Charizard. The swirling sands began to condense, looking more and more like a self opposing Sand Tomb than anything else, when suddenly a great roar was heard and the Charizard was sent crashing to the ground.

'_Faint attack…' _Alexza thought in awe_ 'Scree used it to sneak up on her Charizard while it attacked an empty fortress. But what the heck did he hit it with to make it go down! Scree can't weigh much more than thirty pounds… what did he do?'_

"Rizaadon! Stop playing around and get up already."

The monotone order shocked Alexza back into registering Akumu's presence, and back into realizing her serious mood.

The other girl turned her unusually serious eyes to meet her own wide ones.

"They don't seem to need our help, and you'd only get in your Pokémon's way if you tried to help him at this point. So," She paused and brought out an ultra ball "Were gonna fight down here too!"

An Espeon leapt out of the light, it's claws poised to rake down Alexza's face, and she panicked.

Reeling backwards to avoid the blow, she threw the first pokeball she reached, and prayed.

A sharp meow of pain met her ears and her green eyes snapped open to see Akumu's Espeon fly into a nearby wall. Her savior barely came up to her shin and his rough green hide confirmed her fears.

_Salazar_

But the Espeon was coming around now, and she had not thought to retrieve her instinctually thrown pokeball. The little one had no escape. The purple cat drew closer, and received a stream of Dragon Breath to her face for her attempt.

Alexza sat on the ground staring as her baby Pokémon calmly held his own against the larger cat.

"Anatha use Psybeam!"

The rainbow beam blew it's way across the field towards Alexza and Salazar.

"Salazar, counter it now with Dragon Breath!"

With a small roar of excitement the little Pokémon opened it's mouth and unleashed a torrent of swirling purple-yellow flames.

The two attacks met, struggled, and finally exploded with a burst of heavy black smoke. A small form burst through the cloud of smog, the speedy creature creating a trail of smoke behind it as it sped off in a green blur. The much larger pair of wings following it nearly blew down all four of the flightless on lookers as the Charizard swooped past after his prey.

"Gaaah! Salazar use the tailwinds to your advantage, Zen Headbutt, go!"

The little green one dived into the remaining air current like a bullet, his forehead sparking with blue energy.

"Don't let it hit you Anatha!" Akumu's voice was barely coherent over the still blowing winds and the fierce roars above. "Use swift, then Psybeam again!"

Alexza grit her teeth as she saw her youngest Pokémon take a swift attack head on, wincing as one of the many stars made it past her Pokémon and into her shoulder, the power behind his attack thankfully enough to nullify the damage, but he was still too far away. The psybeam would make contact with both of them before he could make it.

A small cry came from the bagon as it held out it's stubby little arms and suddenly picked up speed, a tell-tale white stream in his wake.

_N-no way! That's an Ariel Ace!!_

Alexza felt her jaw drop as her little bagon slammed it's steely head against the espeon's gem, just before the beam was released.

Another explosion and a flash of light illuminated the field, completely obscuring both human's view.

When the smoke cleared Alexza's jaw crashed to the floor in amazement.

-------

Standing there proudly over it's defeated foe was a large, armored, sickly looking soccer ball.

At least, that's what it looked like at first glance. A second look revealed two pairs of green legs with red under stripes, and stark yellow eyes peering out triumphantly from a dark abyss.

"Salazar…" Alexza whispered breathlessly. "You...evolved!"

"Shellllgon!"

The now not so runt-ish shelgon replied happily as he tottered over to his where Alexza still sat on the ground in shock.

Her happiness was short lived when moments later Scree tumbled from the roof like a comet, the end of his long tail on fire.

"Scree!" the young trainer ran towards her injured Pokémon, but was stopped when she was knocked across the room, just as an enraged Charizard swooped down through the air where she had previously been ready to end his fallen prey.

The large dragon unleashed a stream of fire from his maw open once more, the flames bright and hungry, and both Scree and Salazar were completely enveloped.

But as the flames flickered out, a blue shield could be seen surrounding the two Pokémon.

_Protect… Salazar what else have you learned?_

The yellow eyes narrowed as the protect flickered out, and Scree, his tail no longer on fire after beating it in the dirt while he was being shielded, flitted to stand on top of Salazar's shell. Both middle-stage dragons letting loose twin Dragon Breaths at their startled foe.

With a roar, the Charizard pushed through the flames and sent the younger dragons diving to the side to avoid being swept away.

The two turned, both sets of eyes narrowed, and it was apparent that the two had a plan.

A sudden screeching sound, like ripping metal, tore through the air causing Akumu and Alexza to fall to the ground holding their ears and the Charizard to loose balance mid flight.

_What are they doing?_ She wondered angrily _No matter how low his defense gets, no special attack is going to make it through that thick hide!_

And then it happened. An echoing '_**snap'**_ rang through the gym and one of the Chariszard's wings caved in on itself and it plummeted to the ground.

_That was no normal screech… Scree combined it with a Sonic Boom!_

A guttural roar was the only warning anyone received before Salazar buried a Zen Headbutt deep into the Charizard's stomach drawing a pitiful sound of pain from the massive creature.

Alexza turned to see Akumu looking as shocked as she felt. Or perhaps they both looked equally shocked for when Akumu turned to meet her gaze a smile pricked at the corners of her lips.

"Well. That was unexpected." Her hands went out and called each of her Pokémon back, muttered praises were heard and Alexza safely walked over to her two Pokémon with no concern for Akumu's.

Akumu might have been cruel to the world, but she protected what belonged to her, or, Alexza thought with her eyebrow twitching, what she perceived to be hers(4).

A smile grew over her face as she stroked Salazar's hard neon shell, shaking her head at the odd coloring.

_No wonder I've never heard of any green Salamence sightings, they must all be killed in the wild when they grow these glow in the dark shells!_

"You two were so amazing… Take a nice long rest while I work on getting you to the 'center."

Alexza turned to face Akumu, only to find no one in the building behind her.

A pathetic moan reached her ears. Well, almost no one. She turned once more and was helpless but to giggle at sight of a slightly charred Norman tied up like a Christmas goose. Obviously the dragons had 'danced' around him during their fight, at least he was back on the ground.

She walked over and began pulling on the ropes, trying to get the adult free. After several minutes of struggling on both of their parts, Norman was eventually freed.

He stood up, not sparing Alexza a glance and threw something back at the young girl.

She stared at the Balance badge that gleamed up at her from the ground.

"Take it."

The command was stiff and toneless, but Norman's voice was rough and breathless.

"Take it, and leave. I never want you to return to this town ever again. Not after what you put our people through, not after what you put me through, not after what you put my pokemo—" his voice broke and he said no more.

Alexza swallowed heavily and quietly walked and picked the badge out of the dust before turning and walking out of the curiously unlocked doors.

She had been right the day before. Nothing could have prepared her for this.

* * *

(1)突貫 = Lighting Attack

(2)The Shade's Oath is originally a binding promise between the lawless. This oath adapts to situations and has no true rules but sticks more to guide lines. Often used in competitions or spars. This is _mine_ so no sticky fingers.

(3)悪因 = Root of Evil

(4)Alexza would never forget seeing Akumu take out an assassin who had been after her in Johto. She had kicked him out a twenty story window and followed him down proclaiming that Alexza was _her_ target and no one else had the right to stake a claim on the girl's life but her.


	11. Good news for you! Authors Note

Hey everyone! Nope the storys' "Not Dead Yet!" and thusly I bring you this! The character entry sheet! Specialized people from Team Magma are welcome as are normal trainers. However they will, naturally, end up defeated [or victorious]. And most likely not play a very large role...or maybe they will. (dun dun...dun!) Please note that I already have, and have had, a basic storyline already down. So note that _no new main characters are likely to arise from this._ They will mainly have chapter debuts, Stick around for several chapters, fade away, and show back up again. Some may reappear several times depending on how the story develops. Note that ALL entries will be read. So please use good grammar and I wish you all the best of luck!

* * *

Name:

Gender:

Age:

Eye Color:

Hair:

Home Town:

Extra: (Background, family, quirks, dress style, reasons for whatever, etc.)

::Current Pokémon Team::

1) Name:

Gender:

Species:

Type:

Moves: (Four please, just like the games. Though I will use creative license like they do in the show and assume some basic attacks are known. Please try to be level accurate as well! Trust me it will help!)

2) Name:

Gender:

Species:

Type:

Moves:

3) Name:

Gender:

Species:

Type:

Moves:

4) Name:

Gender:

Species:

Type:

Moves:

5) Name:

Gender:

Species:

Type:

Moves:

6) Name:

Gender:

Species:

Type:

Moves:


	12. A short one: Real Chapter 11

Alexza sighed as the sound of yet another -_SPLASH_- reached her ears followed by Zinita's high pitched giggles as she circled back to help her brother to his raft.

Zaku had been trying, and failing, to complete a barrel roll on his makeshift raft as they crossed the small span of water separating route 103 from route 110.

"Pfffft" Zaku burst up from the surface spitting water at Zinita's face, nearly drenching the younger girl as he climb back aboard and attempted to shake himself dry like an arcanine.

"Zaku! Come on, it'll take us a week to get to Fortree if we keep moving like this!"

The siblings rolled their eyes in tandem at their older friend's behavior.

"C'mon Alexza it's not like the gyms gonna go anywhere!"

"Unless a really, really, reeeeaaally big storm hits and blows the whole town down!" Zinita's giggles, which had been gaining volume and number, were killed as she gasped in horror as large, heavy, storm clouds rolled in. Zaku and Zinita exchanged looks of terror before speeding ahead.

"Faster Bank! Faster! WOO HOO!"

"Flap quicker Pidge! We don't wanna get any wetter!"

The two slowed and turned as they heard a large splash and caught a glimpse of Alexza's death glare as she pushed to the surface of the lake.

"…_PUNCH IT!" _

The sodden girl's eyebrow twitched spastically as she abandoned her raft and slipped her arms around Guardians abdomen.

"Let's get 'em Guardian…"

And with that whisper the chase was on.

* * *

Three hours, two Pokémon centers, and a very long chase later, Zaku dashed madly out of a third Pokémon center.

"Zaku! Get you're pranking arse back here with my Pokémon!"

"Not on your life! You just turned half my clothes **pink**!"

True enough, the brunet was now wearing a faded pink shirt in place of the white one he had started in. Alexza really wasn't very domestic, the whole laundry process really just shot over her head.

So, in the preteen's typical manner, Zaku had stolen Alexza's Pokémon belt and took off down the small town's road. During their wild chase the three had managed to happen upon a small 'rest' town. These towns were new and largely based their economy off of the sudden surplus of Pokémon trainers traveling through Hoenn.

Zaku turned to call back once again to Alexza, who was gaining on him yet again, only to suddenly find himself kissing the dirt road that was supposed to be beneath his feet.

"Owww! What the heck?"

Zaku looked down into the face of an older girl, her pink eyes glaring up at him.

"You gonna move kid or am I going to have to move you myself?"

Zaku squeaked, a fact that he would later deny to his grave, and scrambled backwards off of the taller girl.

She rose to her feet, brushed off her worn purple camouflage pantsand offered Zaku an open hand.

"So… do you have a name, clumsy?"

His face felt as though it was on fire as a flaming blush spread across his face.

"I- uh—sorry! Name's Zaku!"

He managed to spit out before his hand twitched nervously behind his head and ruffled his already windswept hair.

The girl raised an eyebrow at his behavior before smiling and sticking a hand on her hip.

"Well it's nice to meet you Zaku… Zaku? Really? Odd name."

The younger boy visibly huffed up as the yet unnamed girl said this, before seeing Alexza scowering for him across the street.

"uh oh! Come on!"

Without a second thought, _'or, for that matter, a first one'_ as it would later be said, he grabbed the older girl's hand and took off through the town.

* * *

"Ugrh! Where could they have gone?"

Alexza couldn't believe it. First Zaku had scampered off with his tail between his legs and then Zinita disappeared on her too. Not to mention that Zaku _still had_ her Pokémon.

'_Well, not ALL of them at least'_ her hand strayed to clasp at the choker on her neck where Static's pokeball rested as usual… before throwing her hands down in frustration and storming off towards the north side of the town.

'_Really? I had no chance finding them in Rustboro and I found both of them in less than twenty minutes __**and**__ found another trainer.'_ She cut off her thoughts and shook herself as she drifted back to said trainer's too-blue eyes. _'But I can't find either of them in this tiny rest-town!"_

She huffed and blew her one bang up off her face for a few futile seconds before it fell back and covered her left eye.

* * *

"GAAK!"

"Oh, that's Zinita my little sister!"

"Yeah, well, do you think she would mind giving me my lungs back?"

Zaku carefully pried Zinita's arms off of his kidnapped companion.

Zinita's purple eyes stared up into the girls pink ones.

"You have purple hair."

An eyebrow lifted,

"You have green hair."

Zinita turned to her brother and smiled up at him, "She'll fit in just fine!" before skipping off, Zaku sighed before walking off behind her. He stopped as he realized that the girl wasn't following him.

"Hey! –wait a minute. I never did get your name…"

The girl smiled at him and extended a hand again.

"I'm Olivia. "

* * *

* * *

Hey everyone! I. Am. ALIVE! Yep. Expect more updates as it is now summer and I am free to write and be inspired!

….I know, I know. Really short! And totally not what you all deserve! BUT. The story has new purpose… and a new main character? Yes people, that IS Hoot's famous character Olivia. I can only hope that I am doing her twelve-year-old self some version of justice. So… here's a short snippet from me to you!

* * *

"Alexza and Richard-" Zaku started reluctantly

"Kissing in a tree!" Zinita picked it up

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G" Zaku, Olivia and Zinita cheered from their safe spot on the roof.

Alexza sent an enraged look up at them.

"I DO NOT HAVE A CRUSH ON HIM! …and I don't even _know_ you!" she said unclenching the fist she had been threatening them with to point at the snickering twelve year old sitting on the roof next to the blonde's traveling companions.

"You do now!"


	13. A new companion

"Alexza!"

"Huh? –urk! - Hey Zinita…"

By the time Alexza started to pry the ten-year-old off of her waist, and retake her lungs, two people following Zinita had made their way over to the spectacle.

Alexza took a moment to look up from the process of removing Zinita from her person as she noticed that there were indeed _two_ people watching said process. The trapped blonde raised her visible eyebrow.

"Zaku, who is this?"

The girl standing next to the eleven year old wore a large T-shirt, long purple camouflage pants, a turquoise spotted backpack, and an annoyed grimace appeared as Alexza addressed Zaku.

"This is O-"

"-None of your business. Who are you?"

The right eyebrow climbed higher as Zinita and Zaku attempted to stifle their giggles.

"Alexza."

There was a lengthy pause as green and pink eyes clashed, before the right side of Alexza's mouth began to twitch and slowly rise into a little half smile. A tan hand was extended as Zinita removed herself to stand next to Zaku.

"Now, who are you?"

The odd pink eyes darted to the open hand and back to Alexza's eyes almost too fast for the blond to track -

'_Wary. She's not one to trust blindly is she?'_

Before a hand snapped out and clenched hers in a surprisingly strong grip.

"Olivia, and it's nice to meet you."

Another pause, the two younger kids passing glances as the two twelve year olds remained locked in an awkward handshake.

Their eyes met again and the silence shattered as Olivia threw her head back and began to laugh. Alexza's smile grew as Zaku and Zinita took on perplexed looks. Olivia turned and clapped a hand on Alexza's shoulder.

"You know, I think we could get along. So let's try again huh? I'm Olivia. Just arrived in Lillycove yesterday. I'm here for an apprenticeship with Professor Birch. My ride broke down a few hours ago when that storm hit. Now, who are you?"

A small chuckle escaped Alexza as the question was repeated for a third time.

"I'm Alexza. Been traveling through Hoenn for around two months now, I'm a Pokémon trainer on the gym challenge here. I ran into these two during my second week and haven't been able to get rid of them since!"

The two began to walk off towards the Pokémon center of the town, still holding the conversation.

"So, an apprenticeship with a professor. Sounds interesting what do you plan on doing? Field work or lab research?"

* * *

Olivia couldn't believe it. How could this happen?

"Professor you can't be serious!"

"Oh come now Olivia! A young girl like you would hate Littleroot! Far too quiet for such an exciting person."

"I don't even have a Pokémon!"

"Well, that's easily solved too isn't it?"

While the change from the gruff professor Rowan was a welcome change, this man's constant optimism was starting to annoy Olivia. And that was saying something!

'_Arg! This ruins everything! What the cookies is up with my luck? What were the chances that I'd run into a dex holder way out here?'_

Olivia let out a long, drawn out sigh.

"I guess…"

Professor Birch's face softened as he saw Olivia's face fall.

"Well, I do have a Pokémon for you. I was going to give it to you when you got here to be your field partner, but this will work so much better!"

A strange whirring coming the machine behind Olivia made her jump slightly and turn around. A solid '_Thunk' _echoed slightly as a pokeball rolled around in the metal dish beneath the transporter hose.

"Well, go on then! I hope you'll take good care of him. And don't be too hard on those three all right? They need someone like you to keep them going! Best of luck my dear!"

'_Click'_

Olivia turned slightly to see the vid-screen turn off, before returning her attention to the innocent looking pokeball lying in the machine in front of her.

She slowly walked towards it, and picked it up reluctantly. Here was the reason all of her plans were halted. In this simple –

"Hey, you going to find out what's in there or what?"

Olivia jumped this time and turned around quickly. Alexza was leaning casually against the open doorway obviously having just walked in.

Olivia brightened rapidly, missing Alexza's shocked look as she went from angry to hyper in less than a second.

"Yeah! It'll be cool to have a Pokémon at last! Besides did you hear?"

At Alexza's answering "no." Her grin grew larger.

"I'm going to be traveling with you! Apparently you have a pokedex and –"

She stopped to clear her throat and began a very good imitation of the Hoenn professor's voice.

" 'It would be a good chance for me to see the behaviors of many Pokémon if I were to travel with you.' "

"So it looks like you're going to be stuck with me for awhile!"

Olivia finished in a singsong voice.

"Well, " Alexza drawled as the sound of running footsteps reached both of their ears.

"The same could be said to you too."

As these words left the trainer's lips, a smirk appeared on her face and two smaller kids tackled Olivia to the ground.

"YAY! Olivia is coming with us!"

"Awesome! Maybe you can help us out too! Can you cook? I'm sick of soup! _And _pink laundry!"

"_HEY!"_

The indignant cry only set off everyone's laughter again, Alexza's odd laugh even mixing in a few seconds later.

* * *

"So… where are we going?" Olivia asked after a solid ten minutes of walking.

"Oh yeah! Sorry! We're head up to Fortree for Alexza's sixth badge!"

Olivia turned and sent a look at Alexza, "Sixth? And you've been here two months? I know you're a dex holder, but that's pretty nice even for you guy's reputation."

The three exchanged looks, "Reputation?" they asked almost as one.

Olivia looked at them as though they all had two heads.

"You're serious? …Oh, cookies you people really don't know! Did you all think that Professors just give out pokedex to every trainer? For that matter did you think everyone claimed starting Pokémon from the professors of the region?"

She was met with sheepish looks from her three companions.

"Well…" Alexza began slowly "I know most trainers start with a relative's Pokémon or pokeball. Only a few people bother to go down to the Professors."

Olivia snorted at Alexza's last sentence.

"Not even close. Almost all trainers begin with a relative's Pokémon. And it's just not that they can't or are unwilling to make the trip. If that was the case then they shouldn't be trainers anyway. Nah, you have to be _invited_ to get a Pokémon from a professor. "

Olivia was once again met with shocked looks.

"Wait… have all of you guys gotten Pokémon from Professors?"

And the answering nods caused her jaw to drop.

"I got Banketsu last year from Professor Birch, and Zinita was given Alstroemeria for her birthday. Some one called 'Hakase Elm' sent it to her after Mom told him the news."

The incredulous gaze was swung to Alexza, who gave a shrug and replied.

"Static… was a family gift when I was young."

Her voice had gone very soft at that before picking back up into her normal tone.

"And yes, so far three professors have granted me Pokémon; A Charmander from Professor Oak, a Cyndaquil from Professor Elm, and a Treecko from Professor Birch. I had no idea it was that uncommon…"

Olivia shook her head and laughed brightly.

"Well, it's not _that_ uncommon. There have been trainers who go their whole career with the professors backing them up! It's just that there haven't been many who don't settle down into aides for such along time that it just kind of surprised me."

She took a deep breath and continued on

"Not to mention that Pokedexes are also pretty new if you think about it. I've got one from Professor Rowan, but I think Professor Elm has it so that it can be update for a Field Aide's work."

"Cool, any idea of what that entitles?"

"Nope! But I'm sure it'll be useful! …Why did you guys fall down?"

When no answer came she shouted out;

"Group clumsiness!"

And Olivia threw herself to the ground among her odd new friends.

* * *

A lone figure walked down a long, steel, hallway. The channel was dark, only illuminated by the shallow lights cast upon glowering portraits and gleaming coats of arms from times long passed.

The dark cloak of the man floated just above the ground as he walked at an even pace, his large hat pulled down to cast most of his face into the shadows he seemed to belong in.

At the end of the hallway, like most hallways, was a door. Large and made of dark, rick, oak panels that swung quietly open as the man approached.

The room he entered was even darker than the hallway. A single spotlight set up in the middle of the room. The figure approached it swiftly and gracefully swept down onto one knee, the brim of his hat touching the ground as his cloak settled around him.

"Report."

A smooth voice ordered from somewhere within the room as the tall doors swung shut.

* * *

On another side of the region a girl skipped down a dark red hallway with an almost identical set up.

Reaching a simple door and pounding rapidly on it multiple times while bouncing in place excitedly, singing to herself under her breath.

'_The secret side of me, I never__ let you see_

_I keep it caged but I can't control it_

_So stay away from me, the beast is ugly_

_I feel the rage and I just can't hold it'_

The doors swung open to reveal a large room lit only by a roaring fireplace that took up most of the room, and was littered with geological samples.

She continued to sing under her breath, smile growing wider as she approached the desk,

_It's scratching on the walls, in the closet, in the halls_

_It comes awake and I can't control it_

_Hiding under the bed, in my body, in my head_

And dropped two sacks onto the table with two loud _'THUNK's_ that reverberated throughout the room.

"I assume you retrieved the samples?"

An insane giggle came from the girl as something seeped out of the second back and stained the stone floor next to her black boots.

"You know what the say when you assume sir~! You make an-"

A harsh laugh cut her off and her smile crawled back onto her face.

"Dismissed 666."

And with that the girl twirled once and skipped back out.

_It's hiding in the dark, it's teeth are razor sharp_

_There's no escape for me, it wants my soul, it wants my heart_

_No one can hear me scream, maybe it's just a dream…_

Her skipping slowed to a halt as a tear rolled down from an amber eye.

_I hate what I've become, the nightmare's just begun_

_I must confess that I feel like a monster.'_

_

* * *

_

_

* * *

_

Well…now I'm officially back! Song does not belong to me! It is called 'Monster' by Skillet and the lyrics are not in exact order… Anyways… I hope you enjoyed it and I hope I haven't offended anyone! Thanks see you again soon! -Claire.


	14. Confrontations

"Hey! I can see the Weather Institute! We're almost there!"

Olivia closed her map and began to cartwheel down the large hill, stopping half way down to hold her head in her hands as the scenery began to spin in the opposite direction. A giggling green blur rolled past her sitting figure quickly followed by Zaku as he dashed down after his sister laughing along with her.

Olivia turned to wave down Alexza, only to see the other twelve year old placing her bag down carefully on the grassy hill and turning her back on her friends.

Olivia frowned for a few seconds before sneaking up the hill towards her blonde friend. As she was an arms length away Alexza threw her arms back around like a windmill, _once, twice_, before the rest of her body followed and she back flipped once down a quarter of the hill.

She nearly landed before the wind started up again and she slipped, falling onto her side from her landing crouch. She didn't move for a few minutes and Olivia worried for a moment that her serious friend had hurt herself until she saw the odd blond bang lift clear of her friends face as she huffed out her frustration.

Olivia stared for a good ten seconds before putting her bag down next to Alexza's and threw her arms back over her head and neatly back flipped, her landing finding the same problem Alexza's had. Olivia swayed for a few seconds before the wind blew her over and she collapsed next to the other girl in a fit of giggles.

"I didn't know you did gymnastics! Why didn't you say anything? You've seen me jump-kicking off of tree's all day!"

There was a pause, and it took Olivia a few moments to realize that she hadn't been laughing alone as Alexza seemed to be catching her breath with a shocked look on her face.

Alexza half smiled at the girl next to her on the hill before looking up at the clouds again and shrugging.

"Not much of a talker."

Was all she said before turning herself around to walk up the hill and collected the abandoned back-packs.

Olivia, still laying upside down on the hill, watched Alexza's retreating figure with a small frown. Every time the blond started to relax she seemed to snap out of it and whip herself back into a stoic mood just as quickly. Olivia sighed again before rolling backwards to her feet and chasing after her friends. The gifted pokeball, still buried deep in her pocket, remained unopened.

* * *

"Do you people just attract storms or something?" Olivia speculated as they ran into the dark Weather Institute as the sky opened up on them.

The clouds had just suddenly appeared as they reached the bottom of the large hill, blotting out the warm sun that had been preserving their smiles throughout the day. They made it to the Institute without a problem, finding shelter under the large overhang outside of the doors.

"Why is it so dark? They shouldn't even be close to closing at this hour…" Alexza muttered as she ran her hand over the visiting sign.

The siblings exchanged glances and reached into their bags to pull out two pokeballs each. At Olivia's odd look Zaku simply shrugged and stated;

"Better safe then sorry!"

Oliva blinked twice before shaking her head once again and shoved both her hands deep into her outermost pockets of her favorite camo pants. For once content to watch Alexza and Static hack into the electric door's control panel.

"Sometimes I wonder what I've gotten myself into…"

"We all do!"

"Cookies baked in the devil's kitchen! When the heck did you get _behind_ me?"

The petite girl stared at Olivia for a few seconds before giggling to herself wildly,

"You _–heehee-_ have_, -tee!-_ some really funny sayings Olivia!"

Olivia simply held her head in her hands for a few moments in response.

* * *

"You're going to tell us _where it is, how to get there, _and _why it's there_. And then you're going to shut down this building and forget everything you know. Is that clear Professor?"

A slim woman, in a bright crimson uniform, ordered, her grey, thigh slit, skirt twitched, caught in the air conditioned breeze made as a door opened.

Two men walked through the door, each flanked by a poochyena..

"Ah, Umar. Orin. You're late."

The two men exchanged frightful glances as the woman's carnelian eyes settled on them, judging them without care.

"S-sorry ma'am. You –You see there was this incident…"

"Yeah, yeah an incident! Umar and I, we had to uh…"

The two were cut off by the woman's harsh laugh.

"Forgotten your own name have you Umar? Tch, how... unconvincing. These are the people Archie sends to face the great team Magma? Pathetic."

The woman draws a pokeball from her belt and releases the beast before either Team Aqua member could react.

"Mightyena, darling, end them and then use Odor Sleuth to sniff out the rest of these pitiful warf rats."

The screams echoed down the stairs to the rest of the captive lab assistants, effectively scaring them out of their wits as the few left alive typed frantically to recover the demanded information.

* * *

"Hmm, I think I finally got it."

Olivia rolled over to look up at Alexza with great exasperation,

"_**Finally**_, is right! Jeeze we've been out here for nearly half an hour!"

"…It's only been eighteen minutes."

"Whatever!"

Alexza sighed and stretched her limbs, sore after crouching next to and under the control panel for so long.

"I think I shut the alarm off, but I'm not sure. We should be ready anyways though."

Zaku fidgeted for a moment before turning to look at the older blond.

"Alexza… You don't think it could be- ya know, those people from Petalburg do you?"

Olivia saw the shudder travel down her friend's spine, and felt a cold ache settle in her stomach.

"Yes Zaku, I think it _is_ those people from Petalburg."

* * *

"Hey, boss, those kids there… do think they'll be of use to us?"

The woman turned from her place crouched in the shadows to look at the stolen monitor screen, a smile spreading across her face as she recognized two of the five figures slipping in through the door, ignorant of the blue camera on the ceiling.

"Well, well, well. Looks like I'm going to get another chance boys." And with that the woman took off, her heels leaving only faint 'clicking' sounds behind her.

* * *

"Are you guys sure about this? I mean, I'm all for disregarding the rules and stuff – but really? Isn't this taking it too far?"

"Don't be such a pussyfoot Zaku!"

"I'm not! I mean, you're a field aide aren't you? You could loose your apprenticeship for this you know!"

He heard a scoff come from one of the two silhouetted figures in front of him. While the electronic doors had worked after some tinkering and good shock, it looked as though most of the building was shut down. In fact both he and his sister thought that the power was off completely – only to be corrected by both Alexza and Olivia simultaneously.

He chuckled silently to himself, _'Yeah, that had been weird.'_ Zaku was ripped from his musings as he stumbled into the back of one of the older girls and felt Zinita collide with his own back.

"What's going on?" he hissed.

"Shhh! Can't you hear that?"

He blinked as the twelve year olds spoke, once again, in tandem.

"Hear what?"

His question was answered a few seconds later as a light flashed on all of them and a tall teenager stood in front of them.

Alexza raised a hand to her eyes and peered out at the stranger.

"Shelly?"

* * *

Olivia looked over at the woman that only Alexza apparently knew.

She stood tall wearing little more than a small tube top, a cropped sleeveless jacket, jeans and heeled boots. On her head was a blue bandana with a strange rendition of a skull and cross bones on the front. Her hair and eyes were the same shade of bright red that contrasted greatly with her clothing ensemble.

"Alexza, how do you know this person?"

The woman, '_Shelly'_ she reminded herself, laughed quietly as two men crept down and fell in line on opposite sides of her. Olivia's eyes widened as she recognized the men's uniforms.

'_Cookies, these are Team Aqua members!'_

She cast a startled glance to her blond friend,

'_How the heck is she wrapped up in all of this?'_

"Oh, we met quiet sometime ago. How _have_ you been doing Alexza? I haven't seen you since that day in the forest."

Olivia noticed Alexza tense unconsciously at the mention of the forest.

"It has been awhile Shelly. But I think the real question is; what are _you_ doing_ here_? This isn't _your_ doing is it?"

* * *

Shelly paused a moment, laughing to herself and thanking Arceus for her good luck. If they hadn't been delayed that it _would have_ been her doing. But it wasn't, and so she had another chance.

"No, it's not. But I think we both know who it is. Would you be willing to help us out, Alexza?"

She offered the young girl a glove covered hand and wasn't surprised as it was batted away.

"You know that I won't consent to that."

A smile worked her way over her face,

'_No, you wouldn't be that easy would you?'_ she thought as she let loose a more real laugh this time.

"I know, but you can't blame me for trying can you?"

The purple headed girl standing next to Alexza glared and snarled out

"Actually, we can."

* * *

"Actually, we can." Olivia snarled as she suddenly saw what Alexza had seen in that offered hand. These people were looking to recruit.

The woman sneered in Olivia's direction before placing a hand on her hip and releasing a large mightyena.

"Mightyena, love, go look for that fire-headed twit and take out her Mightyena while you're up there."

Alexza shifted noiselessly and Static let loose a rumbling growl at the word 'Fire-head'.

"_**One of them is here?"**_

Olivia took a sudden step back, covering Zinita and Zaku both in that movement, taking in Alexza's shaded face with wide eyes. Her friend was hunched over so that her hair cast her entire face into shadow instead of just the left side.

"Alexza…"

Zaku pushed past an arm Olivia hadn't realized she had raised and reached up to put a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"What's going on?"

There was along pause, and Olivia could _see_ the smugness flashing in the woman's eyes triumphantly. As she and her enterauge strutted down the hall to 'give them a moment of privacy' while they 'worked out their problems'.

Alexza turned to face Olivia, taking in the other girl's protective posture.

'_She's doing what I should have done, should __**be**__ doing.'_

Alexza let her eyes close for only a moment before facing her friend once again.

"Get them out of here."

She knew her voice was broken, she knew sounded pathetic, even to her own ears. Again she looked at Olivia, saw her forming a retort, and pressed further.

"Please. Olivia, _please_, take them out of here. Get them to the next rest stop."

The pink eyed girl stared at her in shock, was her uptight friend actually, dare she consider it, _begging_ her? She licked her lips, mouth dry with the suddenness of the confrontation.

"What about you?"

She managed at last, knowing she had sealed their fates with that admittance. _Though,_ she thought, _it was worth it to see all that tension drop off of her. _

The girls lips twitched suddenly, _'she's trying to smile…'_, and their eyes met. Green clashing with pink.

"I'll meet you there in less than two hours."

Olivia stared, gaze hovering menacingly over the three Aqua members before nodding to Alexza as she picked up Zinita and motioned for Zaku.

"Now wait a minute! Why do you guys get to decide for us? Who says we're not coming!"

And the mood almost shattered as both the girls stifled a groan at the Zaku's obstinate behavior.

"C'mon Zaku, Alexza's going to go get her self in a whole truck load of trouble and you want nothing to do with that."

Zaku wretched his hand free from Olivia's grasp,

"What do you mean? What the heck is going on arou-"

"Go. Or I'll tell your mother. Everything."

Zaku gaped openly at the threat, knowing exactly what the older trainer meant.

"You wouldn't…"

Alexza shot the boy a one eyed glare that shamed most pirates Olivia had seen, TV or otherwise.

"I'm not playing around here Zaku, you need to leave. Remember how it was with the desert? Same thing applies here. I'm not going to risk you. Not here, not now, not yet."

Alexza placed a kiss to the boy's forehead before turning and doing the same to Zinita a moment later. She rose up again and looked Olivia in the eyes.

'_Take care of them'_

Olivia just nodded and ushered the younger trainers out in front of her, looking back only once to see Alexza turn the corner out of sight.

"_Sometimes I wonder what I've gotten myself into…"_

* * *

"So…" Shelly drawled as she and the short blond crept around yet another corner and stomped the pathetic pokemon 'guarding' it.

"Why did you stick with those kids?"

The glare she got in return was enough to make a few hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

"oooh, touchy! Alright then Alexza you can have your brats… but you know that _they_ don't play fair. They _will_ be pulled into this eventually."

The child seemed to deflate in front of her eyes and Shelly could almost taste the rich wine of victory – before the girl squared her shoulders and pulled her hair back into a spiky bun, pulling her left bang back behind her left ear and clipping it there with a flexible lock-pick.

"Shut up, Shelly."

Was the muttered reply and the woman laughed at the girl's audicy and guts as they passed the cowering lab assistants on the second floor.

Shelly rolled her eyes at them, really people could be such mareep. She turned to look at Alexza and the two male grunts who had flanked them through the institute. She nodded and signed for them to take their place guarding the door as they walked though to the back of the second level, the electronic door opening with a loud _HISS_.

A slim woman stood there, towering over a fallen professor, the bodies of two grunts staining the ground red as their lifeblood seeped out onto the once pristine tile floor.

She let out a chuckle before turning to face them, her short red-brown hair shifting even under the devil-horned poncho.

"Shelly! What a surprise…" She drolled a deadpan expression plastered on her face before her carnelian eyes settled on Alexza's figure and widened in shock moments later.

Emerald eyes glared defiantly up at her, and she couldn't help but see a shadow of another stubborn stare in this one.

"So, you've shown up at last."

* * *

AN: Well, there you guys go! To make up for my bad writing and the last two chapters this one is 8 pages long... hopefully that'll become the standard length this summer! Hmm, nope not going to tell you anything here. If you recognize any characters please feel free to submit a guess as well as any villian profiles you would like to see here! Please refer to ch.11 for the entry form. Thank you for reading and (maybe?) reviewing! -Claire


	15. It's not over

Olivia grimaced as she stumbled once again on the wet dirt road, her usual grace sapped from exhaustion and the small teary bundle on her right hip. She had been traveling like this for nearly an hour, Zinita wearing herself out twenty minutes in.

A cold hand reached up and brushed away her rain & sweat soaked hair as she _just_ made out the blurry figure of Zaku a few feet ahead of her. The boy still hadn't spoken since leaving the institute, merely walking ahead of her and Zinita with his hands shoved deeply into the pockets of his baggy, khaki, shorts.

Olivia sighed, shifted Zinita to her back, and shifted her backpack to her left hip, before started off once again. The glowing windows of the town her only beacon of hope as the rain fell harder.

* * *

"So, you've shown up at last."

The resemblance really was remarkable, she could see now why she had been getting frantic reports from beaten grunts about a 'dead-girl walking'. She had had her doubts, but this struck the nail in their coffin. There was no doubt, this was the brat's sister.

"You have – oh _sorry_." The woman paused, a nasty smile growing on her face at her own barb.

"She _had_ the same eyes that you do. Defiant, angry, filled to the brim with confidence."

Another laugh was pulled from the woman's mouth as she saw Alexza's hackles rise with each passing comment.

"Only, hers' were such a _lovely_ shade of red. A fitting color don't you think? Especially considering how-" She was cut off by a shout and an electric current snapping past her nose. Making her sadistic grin grow wider and yet another harsh laugh flow out.

"Same temperaments too! You're right, your eyes _are_ different. Hers never held that… spark. They never had that glint of _hatred-_"

This time the woman was forced to jump back to avoid the sudden web of electricity sent at her. Her face, nearly covered by the huge-hooded poncho, managed to display her incredulousness.

"Shut. Up."

The blonde child in front of her was clenching her fists, as though she thought she could actually _hurt_ someone if she were to release her restraints.

Suddenly a pokeball was in the girl's hand and the woman had few precious seconds to reach blindly for her own Pokémon.

"Shut them down, Guardian!"

"Tch! Let's help her meet her little sister, Numel!"

The two calls had rung out into the air simultaneously, the woman cringing as she noted the distinct type advantage the girl had counted on.

Another laugh, this one higher than the rest, echoed through the room as her long time rival threw her red hair over her shoulder and laughed her heart out.

"My word Courtney! I never thought I'd see the day were you had a cat-fight with a minor!"

The woman, a Team Magma Admin now known as Courtney, whipped around to glare at her forgotten rival's back.

"Shelly" She hissed, a sneer wrinkling her nose up with her upper lip, before giving out a sharp whistle. An echoing 'yelp!' and the sound of thundering steps were heard before a large mightyena slid through the doorway.

Shelly backed up several steps as both the mightyena and Courtney stalked closer.

"Mightyena! End her and then help me take care of this little—"

She was cut off as water gun knocked her off her feet and to the now slippery ground below.

"You really need to pay attention to your surroundings."

A soft voice drawled from behind her, the brat must have defeated her Numel while she was busy with Shelly.

'_Kids just as fast too…'_

Courtney turned and looked up to see the emerald glare leveled just above her face.

'_What's she looking at…'_

With a sudden start her eyes widened and her pupils contracted as she realized what was going on.

'_Not at me… She- Holy mother of! She didn't even know…this isn't about me being there. The kid doesn't have a clue about what really happened! This is just against all of us! What- what the hell does this kid have planned for her to glare that openly?'_

Courtney scrambled backwards as she saw the girl reach for her shoe –

'_Something's hidden in there, don't need to find out what!'_

- and slammed her hand on the large button on her discarded communicator just as a knife embedded itself deep into the tile between her legs where her head had been.

She heard Shelly's sharp in take of breath as the knife was thrown and as her mightyena lunged for the Aqua Admin's arm.

The wolf like Pokémon let out a whine as Shelly kicked it in the diaphragm away from herself and into one of the many machines that littered the room.

* * *

Alexza scowled as she missed and rolled under one of the many computers to avoid her own knife as it came sailing through the air back at her.

'_Shoot. I should have gotten her with that first throw…'_

she paused as she realized that she had no idea what that red button had done and took a good look at the room around her before looking up at the desk above her head.

'_I bet this is the main computer. Hmm…'_

_

* * *

_

"Crap!"

Shelly was running along the desks as the mightyena followed her path from the floor below her. She had been around long enough to know that Courtney had just requested immediate evacuation from the building… meaning a Magma helicopter was going to be here way any minute now.

They need to clear out. Now.

"Come on kid! Where the heck are you? We gotta blow this joint before her back up gets here!" Jumping over a large desk Shelly was shocked as the girl rolled out next to her.

'_What did she just put into her pocket?'_

Before standing to her feet and running towards the fallen Professor.

Shelly rolled her eyes, because honestly? The girl nearly stuck a knife through the skull of person she knew by name – but wouldn't leave a total stranger in a building?

'_Well,_' she paused, '_seeing as how the last few times she left someone alone with Team Magma end in death…'_

Shelly settled for just shaking her head as she led the girl and the dazed nerd out of the building and behind a small shed just as the 'copter landed. She sighed as she withdrew her own communicator.

"Command this is 002. Repeat this is 002. Situation went south, Target 005 was present. I have a… guest with me. Lab Target acquired, Data target has fallen into Target 005's grubby mitts. Call for disguised ground transport – immediate."

Radio static was her answer for a long minute before a masculine voice came through from the other end.

"002 this is Command. I don't think that 'grubby mitts' is a scientific term… "

Shelly scowled as Alexza hid a half smile as she let her hair back down into its usual untamed style.

"I don't think it matters, _Amber_."

The twelve year old valiantly attempted to resist the urge to giggle as the male voice squawked and replied;

"My name is _Sean_, god-"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Quit whining like the little girl you are and get my transport already!"

"I didn't hear a _please!"_

"Ok then… get me my transport, _before I shoot your ass so full of bullets you'll have to wear diapers."_

"Testy~! Alright then, it should be on route 119 shortly."

"How shortly…"

Alexza and Static's ears twitched as they heard a faint roaring sound…

"Oh I'd say about… 10, 9, 8, 7…"

As the countdown grew shorter, Shelly's eyes widened and she dragged Alexza and the still dazed professor out from behind the shed just as a large black car cashed through it.

The window rolled down as the horn honked cheerfully at them, a bald man with a blue bandanna that matched Shelly's waved at them from the driver's seat.

"Hey ho there Shelly!"

He paused and took a good look at Alexza before smiling at her and waving in a friendlier manner.

"Heh, You must be the little shark I've been hearing about huh?"

His ADD gaze swung to the man in the lab coat who seemed to finally becoming lucid again.

"And this must be the esteemed weather professor! Wonderful to meet you at last sir!"

At this point Alexza found herself being ushered into the large car by Shelly, who hopped into the front passenger seat, and driven at breakneck speeds down the road.

"Where are we going?"

Sean and Shelly turned to answer before Shelly grabbed Sean's head and pointed it back towards the road, just in time for them to make it over a bridge.

"We're dropping you of at the nearest station before taking the Professor in to file for charges and to find out what those Magma's wanted. It really bites that they got away with this…"

Alexza winced before nodding slowly and turning to watch the wet road pass in a blur.

* * *

* * *

AN: 'Ello all! Thank you for reading this far and another BIG thanks to xXhootsXx (Hoots) and xDaughter-of-the-Sunx (Hime-chan) for reviewing! You two seem to be my only readers and, hence, the only reason for my writing! Thank you. I still need new characters in the villian profiles and I really don't want to make them up myself... it's just not as much fun! So PLEASE PM me your character's profile using the guide in ch.11 that I will be taking down - soon!

Thanks again,

Claire


	16. Why Sean isn't allowed to drive

Alexza awoke to the sound of screaming, though it took her several minutes to realize why. When the reason became apparent, a wry smirk crossed her face.

'_When they said they were dropping me off I didn't realize that we'd be this close…'_

She shook her head and opened the car door, stepping out into the middle of the police station and into the crowd of irked officers - who were, obviously, none too pleased with the large black hummer resting in the middle of their office.

"There ya go kid! These kind folks should be able to help ya find yer buddies!"

Alexza shook her head and waved at Sean as he backed out of the building in record time, disappearing down the road long before any of the still fuming officers had a chance to stop him. Just as the glares started to settle on Alexza, a brown haired teen stumbled through the gaping hole the car had left.

Her hair was soaked and stuck awkwardly to her face and neck, one strap of her periwinkle tank top had fallen off her shoulder, and she clutched a soaked blue and white baseball cap in her left hand.

"Heh…huh—Hey! Was that Team Aqua?"

She was panting, Alexza noted distractedly, apparently having run through the rain a good distance to get her answer. After a moment of silence, the teen's hazel eyes settled onto Alexza.

"You! Are you all right? They didn't hurt you did they?"

With that, Alexza found herself being manhandled as the teenager started checking her over for injuries. With an indigent squawk, Alexza whacked the older girl, with her own damp cap, several times, before backing three paces towards the door.

"Who are you?"

The older girl, who had started to approach the disgruntled pre-teen once again, paused for a moment before laughing self-consciously and wringing some water out of her drenched ponytail.

"Yeah, good question! Um…" She paused and looked around before grabbing Alexza's upper arm and dragging her across the street into a small diner, ignoring both the shouts of the remaining police and Alexza's grumbles as she did so.

"Let's get some hot coco, kay?"

* * *

The girl stared down into her white mug as she organized her thoughts.

"Well… where to start?"

The blond across from her narrowed her eyes,

"How about you start with why you just kidnapped me."

The older girl's eyebrows rose.

"I must be awesome if I could 'kidnap' you while in a police station!"

The deadpan look she received told her that her sarcasm was not appreciated.

"Sheesh! Okay, okay… Well, what were you doing with Team Aqua?"

The blond laughed sardonically, and the brunet winced at the tone.

"Oh no you don't. You don't get to ask the questions yet. Not until I know that it isn't not your business."

Alexza sighed and held her face in her hands as she received a blank look from the older girl.

"Alright, no more double negatives. I promise."

Suddenly the emerald eyes narrowed dangerously as she re-evaluated the older girl.

"You're a Pokémon trainer."

The other girl blinked and nodded before giving a brilliant smile.

"Yep! I've beaten the Kanto and Johto gyms and –hey! Stop stalling!"

Alexza smirked as the older girl caught on.

"I'm not 'stalling'. I'm just gathering information on my kidnapper."

The older girl rolled her eyes and handed her a red device, causing Alexza's eyes to widen.

"You have a pokedex?"

The older girl smiled at her and pushed it further across the table. Alexza smirked back and pushed her own silver one next to it causing the girl's hazel eyes to widen as well.

"After you."

Alexza sighed and opened up the red pokedex, accessing the trainer card with relative ease. The emotionless voice soon chimed out to her moments later.

"Greetings. This pokedex was distributed to **Kassy Mitchell **Six years, two months, and 12 days ago by **Professor Oak**."

Alexza rolled her eyes, at least she had the other girl's name now.

"Alright. Bring up Trainer Specific Data – Gym record, Tournament record, Elite Four victories… current team?"

Kassy shook her head "Full team data denied."

The pokedex whirred and began once more;

"**Kassy** has collected **eight** Kanto badges, **eight **Johto badges, and **six** Hoenn badges. **Three **League Tournaments entered. **No **Elite Four victories. Pokémon team on hand – Charizard, Chinchou, Marowak, Shiftry, Alakazam, Heracross."

The younger trainer half smiled, even without knowing their moves that was a pretty amazing team. But…

"So you kept your main team through your travels then?"

Kassy nodded and smiled back at the little blonde.

"Yeah, I just couldn't leave some of 'em behind. They're my family, ya know?"

The teen's hazel eyes had softened as she though of her partners, her finger tracing the flame imprint on the ball in her pocket. Blinking back the memories, she smiled just as softly as she opened the silver pokedex.

"Greetings –"

There was a pause and some beeping as a light connected the two pokedex before the silver Pokedex continued.

" –**Kassy Mitchell. **This pokedex was given to **Alexza Salamis Namiigai**. Two years, one month and 24 days ago by **Professor Oak.**"

Kassy grinned, looks like the old man was meddling again!

"Alright. Bring up Trainer Specific Data – Gym record, Tournament record, Elite Four challenges, current team?"

She parroted back playfully. Alexza rolled her eyes as she caught the elder teens edit, and shook her head denying Kassy the same information that she was.

"Full team data Denied."

More whirring sounds occurred as Alexza's record was brought up.

"**Alexza** has collected **eight** Kanto badges, **eight **Johto badges, and** six **Hoenn badges. **Two** League Tournaments entered. **Two **Elite Four _victories_. Pokémon team on hand – Luxio, Shelgon, Vibrava, Marshtomp, and Grovyle."

Green met hazel and the staring contest began.

* * *

Olivia looked up at the large clock in the Pokémon center, watching as the larger hand began to shift onto the twelve.

'_Come on…'_

She glanced back at the doors and then back at the clock as the two-hour mark passed without a sound.

Sighing, Olivia rose to her feet, ready to treat the younger kids to lunch and lie her rear off until she could start searching for her suicidal friend.

Olivia's left foot had just entered the hallway that led to the guest rooms when a soaked figure tumbled into the Pokémon center with a crash.

The purple haired girl stood there in shock for a few moments before the fallen figure flipped blonde bangs out of her face and two emerald eyes looked up at her from the girl's position on the now slick ground.

"I'm not late am I?"

* * *

* * *

AN: Sorry for this being such a short chapter… also sorry that it's SO. FREAKIN'. LATE! For that, you all deserve a preview of the next chapter and an early snippet.

…Don't you agree?

* * *

~~_**Goldenrod City, Johto**~~_

The eldest of the triplets, Kiri, was currently stuck in Goldenrod.

Not because of any losses or financial problems, but because she, like every other resident in the city, was trapped. Strange men in black and red suits had barricaded all of the entrances and exits of the city.

The gym, which Kiri had beaten nearly a week ago now, was dark and the young girl's stomach churned as she thought of what that meant for Whitney and the other girl's lives.

So, now that she realized her fellow sisters couldn't be reached she was going to have to do _it_.

Kiri grimaced as she started to dial in a new number, one she hadn't used in two years. She finished the sequence, picked up the phone, and waited for her older sister to pick up.


	17. And so it begins

_Olivia thinking_

'_Alexza thinking'_

_~Kiri thinking~_

* * *

~~_**Goldenrod City, Johto~~**_

A small brunette stood inside a Pokémon center, fingers tapping frantically along the keys on the public phone system as she tried to reach her family.

"Pick up… Pick up! Don't make me resort to calling _her._ Come on girls!"

After a few moments a small beep was heard;

"_Hey you've reached Kimiko Namiigai. Sorry I missed your call but I must be doing something more important right now! Leave a message and I'll get back to ya later~"_

"Graaah! That brat! She takes off three days ahead of me and doesn't bother to answer her phone for a month? And Kirstiana! She ditches us _completely_ and stays in Kanto!"

Kiaria Namiigai held her head in her hands as she ranted about her siblings to her starters, Shaku-wani and Touhin.

Kiri smiled as she thought about them, Shaku-wani was a Croconaw and a gift from a Professor Elm. Touhin, well, he was sent by Professor Oak who hadn't known about her running into Professor Elm. The young girl's smile was replaced by a frown, the oldest Pokémon professor hadn't been able to tell the triplets apart, even though they were all vastly different in their mannerisms.

Kimi was girly and was more into contests than gym matches, Kiri often started fights and spent hours researching gym leaders as she traveled, and Kiki was quiet – Pokémon seemed to just _like_ the youngest triplet.

However, all were 4'ft 8" with the same light brown hair and dark brown eyes of their mother and the same dusting of freckles that had plagued their father when he was young. Simply put, the three girls were not just triplets – but they were also identical. Down to the placement and number of said annoying freckles.

The eldest of the triplets, Kiri, was currently stuck in Goldenrod.

Not because of any losses or financial problems, but because she, like every other resident in the city, was trapped. Strange men in black and red suits had barricaded all of the entrances and exits of the city.

The gym, which Kiri had beaten nearly a week ago now, was dark and the young girl's stomach churned as she thought of what that meant for Whitney and the other girl's lives.

So, now that she realized her two sisters couldn't be reached she was going to have to do _it_.

Kiri grimaced as she started to dial in a new number, one she hadn't used in two years. She finished the sequence, picked up the phone, and waited for her older sister to pick up.

* * *

Olivia and Alexza had just settled into the mess hall when a trilling alarm started up from Alexza's bag. Olivia's eyes narrowed as she recognized the generic tune;

"Is that… a pokegear?"

Alexza appeared stunned for several moments before almost diving towards the bag, shocking Olivia thoroughly.

"Umm… okay then?"

Alexza rummaged frantically through the backpack until she found the small red device and flipped it open as she fell back into her side of the booth.

Olivia started as she heard a young girl's voice timidly call out –

"Alexza?"

The pink-eyed girl almost fell over as Alexza answered, her friend starting out curious before almost jumping out of her seat in a tizzy.

"Kiri? What's wrong? You look- Do I need to get out Smog?"

"No! Well… I- I don't think you do. At, at least not yet!"

* * *

Olivia slid around to sit next to Alexza as the blonde placed the portable videophone on the table. Her eyes were met by the sight of a small girl staring back at her with big brown eyes.

The girl looked to be ten years old, obviously the kid was still green behind the ears. She was dressed in a light blue shirt, and a large, nearly unzipped, black jacket with a strange symbol on the left side.

Olivia's pink eyes narrowed as she turned to look at Alexza's own discarded coat. On the left side, just where her friends' heart would rest, was a coat of arms. Olivia quickly zoned out of the conversation to get a better look at the stitching. Two large scythes crossed one another across a large shield that was bordered with a raguly line interwoven with grey chains, beneath the scythes was a large bow, a dark brown bear stood on the left, a large winged hydra on the right.

Below the shield were the words '_Nihil verum nisil mors', _ above the design in an arc were some strange symbols Αδερφός, κι ας ειν' κι οχτρός that Olivia faintly recognized as ancient greek.

She was pulled from her attempts at translation as she heard Alexza demand;

"That's it! I'm flying over!"

* * *

**-With Alexza while Olivia was zoning out-**

"No! Well… I- I don't think you do. At, at least not yet!"

Alexza frowned at her younger sister's image, slowly noting the circles under her eyes and the slight trembling in her frame that had nothing to do with the pokegear's transmission.

With a long sigh she finally asked,

"What's wrong?"

By the end of Kiri's description Alexza was nearly up in arms. From the sound of it yet _another_ team had reared it's ugly head – and once again one of her sisters was in the middle of it.

The way she was describing Goldenrod made it sound like 'Old Saffron', back when crime, and the city itself, was not-so-secretly controlled by Team Rocket.

"Kiri… I need you to stay inside that center. Barricade it, stock up on supplies if you can still move through the city, if not – then check with the Head Joy to see what you can do for rations. You. Must. Not. Leave."

Alexza started to move out of the booth, fully ready to pull together her Kanto and Johto teams, when she felt more than saw Kiri's screen rock as a loud explosion blew a hole through the wall behind her sister.

Alexza watched in still horror as a man in a Magma uniform walked through the hole. He stood for a moment, appearing to enjoy the screams of the frantic people running deeper into the center, before pulling his hood back and sweeping a lock of his long curly hair over his shoulder.

The man's red eyes watched as Kiri turned slowly away from the monitor screen, her frightened brown eyes brought a sick gleam to his own – one that only intensified as he noticed Alexza's shocked glare drilling into him from the screen.

A twisted grin grew across his face as he called back through the hole in the wall.

"Camerupt, use Lava Plume on the little girl…"

* * *

Alexza heard her sister scream as the deadly molten projectile decimated the vid screen in the Pokémon center, leaving her with an image of grey fuzz and cackling static.

Panicked green eyes met with worried pink as the two preteens scrambled from the bench and began a frantic dash towards the main area of the Pokémon center.

The two slid around the last corner and skidded to a stop in front of the transfer PC, Alexza hurriedly logging in and starting to shift through her stored Pokémon.

"Shoot! This box only has the Hoenn Pokémon!"

With a faint growl and even more frantic key bashing, Alexza finally managed to enter her universal storage from the small PC. Releasing an uncharacteristic huff of frustration, she began to use the touch screen to start locating which Pokémon would arrive within under a half hour.

The blonde hit the transfer key and was just setting her Hoenn Pokémon out to complete the exchange when an eerie sense of déjà vu struck her as she traded a frightened glance with Olivia just seconds before the wall across from them exploded.

* * *

Kiri froze as the deadly substance hurdled towards her face, fortunately Shaku-wani did not and quickly tackled his young trainer out of the way.

The heavy 'Big Jaw' Pokémon rolled off of his trainer and unleashed a harshly pressurized jet of water back through the dust, striking the Camerupt between the eyes.

Kiri scrambled to her feet and let out a grinning Gengar as the situation began to sink in.

"Enmity, I need your help!"

The gengar's smile faded as it noticed the look in the girl's eyes, it floated over to her and hugged her carefully.

"Enmity, I need you to help us out! I- I don't know what to do!"

The shadow Pokémon turned quickly and glowered at the man who had put it's charge in such a state, before vanishing and taking off towards the stunned Camerupt – a shadowball forming between his hands.

He reappeared and shot off the sinister attack, only to be engulfed seconds later by a large Mightyena's jaws. The type advantage of the bite attack taking its harsh toll on Enmity's life force. His red eyes began to close – but before the world was wrenched away, he heard the Camerupt fall to the ground with a pathetic cry.

* * *

Kiri watched in horror as the large Mightyena opened it maw to finish off Enmity, before the red capture beam beat the monster to it.

Cradling the Darkball to her chest, Kiri glared at the scowling man as he too recalled his fallen Pokémon.

"Jeeze! Stop being such a brat and behave like all the other trainers already!"

Kiri took a second to look around – no one was there.

She whipped back around, throwing a pokeball as she turned and threw herself to the floor as a flamethrower melted the area where she had been standing.

A plume of steam filled the room as the unknown fire type's attack met with another one of Shaku-Wani's water guns.

"Kidenki use Thunderbolt!"

Kiri grinned as the Pikachu's attack plowed through the mist and illuminated the Mightyena's creeping figure for twenty seconds before the wolf collapsed the floor, the mist conducting some of the spare electricity around it, zapping the fallen canine every few seconds.

Her grin fell as she was picked up off of the ground and the sound of a loaded gun 'clicking' reached her ears as the man aimed it at Shaku-Wani.

Kiri turned to see the great maw of a large Arcanine was clamped around the back of her jacket, holding her several inches off of the ground.

"There… now call them back little girl."

Kiri froze for several seconds before recalling both her Croconaw and Pikachu, deciding not to test exactly how strong the middle stage crocodile's scales were.

Her heart leapt up into her throat as the gun was turned on her.

"Let's see what the Bosses wanted with you, eh?"

And her world went black.

* * *

Stepping through the rubble was a young man, the traditional Magma Admin poncho covered his head, though he seemed to have added a cape to his ensemble. His black eyes glared out at the mass panic before locking onto Olivia's.

The man raised an eye brow at her lack of fear before releasing a Golbat and a Camerupt.

"Level the place to the ground."

Olivia stared as a pokeball was pressed into her hands,

"Here! I'm not sure how well trained the pokemon Birch gave you is – so take good care of Laya for me!"

With that Alexza turned and sent out a large, strangely marked Charizard and an irate looking Sandslash.

"Good to see you two again! Smog use Heat Wave to start please! Digger I need you to take out that Camerupt before he erupts!"

Olivia stared as the two pokemon moved forward, the Charizard's Heat Wave melted what remained of the wall behind the two pokemon, while the Sandslash simply tunneled through the tile, cement, and concrete with ease until it was out of sight.

She glanced down at the Greatball in her hand before pulling out the pokeball professor Birch had sent her.

"Alright… Come on out!"

Olivia's eyes widened as a fluffy, male, Eevee tumbled out of the pokeball to look up at her with large doe eyes.

Sitting next to it was a sleek purple cat, the Espeon's glowing eyes seemed to measure her soul for several seconds before it padded over and bumped Oliva's knees with her lilac head in greeting.

Olivia turned as the computer's voice struck up behind her.

"Espeon, Nickname: Laya. Moveset: Swift, Quick Attack, Psychic, and Morning Sun."

"Eevee, Moveset: Sand Attack, Quick Attack, Bite, and Baton Pass"

Olivia nodded to her self before turning to see another trainer's pokemon sneaking up on Alexza.

"Laya, Quick Attack!"

The purple cat disappeared from sight before appearing again in a mid-air tackle – dragging the stunned Zubat down with it.

Olivia rushed behind her borrowed pokemon, glaring at the Magma grunt that had tried to kill her friend before slamming her fist into the boy's face sending him to the ground with a bloody nose.

Olivia turned in time to see a girl's fist burry into her side before she rolled to the ground, ducking the kick aimed at her lowered head.

A female magma-grunt smirked down at her before ordering her Poochyena to tackle the fallen girl and then bite Olivia's neck.

Olivia scrambled backwards frantically as the little black dog charged her. The dog was less than foot away when it was slammed into the wall by a brown blur.

"Nice work Eevee! …I'm gonna have to give you a better name after this."

Olivia grinned as she ducked another punch from the grunt before kicking her in the chest. The purple haired girl winced as the criminal's head made contact with the counter on her way down, rendering her unconscious like her pokemon.

Olivia spun to catch another grunt's foot, only to be punched in the back by _(surprise)_ yet another grunt!

A high pitched hiss filled the air before the two grunts were illuminated by a blue glow for all of the three seconds it took for them to fly backwards out the hole they entered through. Taking their leader down with them.

Olivia stared at the smug Espeon for a few seconds before making her way to Alexza's side, absently noting that her blonde friend seemed to have issues with Camerupts if her opponent's condition was anything to go by.

Olivia placed a hand on Alexza's shoulder as the other girl's breathing evened out.

"That was… interesting."

Olivia shook her head and grinned;

"So…. Do you think that was it?"

A scream ripped their attention from the unconscious criminals on the ground as the third explosion of the day went off from farther within the town.

Alexza and Olivia's eyes widened in realization as they looked at each other in shock as they realized who they had left unattended.

"_**Zaku and Zinita!"**_

_**

* * *

**_

**

* * *

AN:** Here we go! Hope that was better than the last chapter! Here are the translations to the Latin and Greek used in this chapter.

_Nihil verum nisil mors : Latin - 'Nothing is true but Death'_

Αδερφός, κι ας ειν' κι οχτρός : _Greek – basically means "Blood is thicker than water"_


	18. Slight Edit: Issues and a new AN

"Oof! Hey! Watch it you jack-"

"Marcus?"

"What? Oh god, why the hell are you here, you pathetic freak?"

Kiri scowled and lashed out blindly towards where she heard her 'cell mate' sitting, a smile crossed her face as she heard him yelp.

"What was that for you little bi- hey! Stop that!"

"Watch your mouth!"

The two sat in silence as Kiri's eyes tried to get used to the encompassing darkness. After several more awkwardly silent moments the young girl shifted in her bonds, hissing as she futilely caused herself rope-burn while attempting to loosen them. A scoff from the shadows to her left brought her frustration to a boil.

"For Arceus's sake! What is your problem? It's pitch black, I'm tied up, we're locked up, and you're _still_ going to act like the ugly head of a dodrio?"

"Shut up, loser... Give me a few seconds."

The brunet could literally feel the vein on her forehead throb, it was just her luck that she'd be thrown in a cell with the nastiest kid on the face of the earth.

A few shuffling and scraping sounds drew her attention;

"What are you doing?"

"Shut up and wait freak."

She jumped as a pair of calloused hands touched her wrists, which had been tied behind her back, and started to gently work at the ropes binding them. Silence fell again, save for the few grunts of concentration and muffled whimpers when the ropes had to be pulled sharply in one direction or the other.

Kiri sighed in relief as the ropes finally fell to the floor. She turned to where she thought her rival was sitting, absently rubbing her sore wrists, only to blink blankly as she realized she still couldn't see through the shadows.

"Marcus?"

She smiled at his gruff "Yeah."

"What's with the darkness? I still can't see a thing!"

He scoffed (_or was that a sigh?)_ before answering, "They've got a murkrow watching us."

Kiri winced, she hated those annoying little birds. For one thing they only brought about bad luck, and another they had the most infuriating ability to combine the moves haze and smokescreen to make an impenetrable darkness. Which she was now stuck sitting in. Oh, well at least she wasn't lost in the woods again!

She sighed as she settled down and shifted until her shoulder bumped into Marcus's, only to scream as pain shot through her collarbone.

"Kiri!"

* * *

Olivia raced around the corner, heart pounding, absently wondering exactly when she had become so attached to these three people. Pulling out of her thoughts to notice the tidal wave sweeping down the streets she had a few spare seconds to shimmy up a lamppost and leap onto a low over hang on one of the shops.

'_Now's not the time to be thinking about that'_

She looked up to see a red blur streak pas her head before she was yanked along by a firm grip on her hoodie, the ground blurring beneath her feet as she saw the tops of buildings grow small.

She looked up between the two claws on her shoulders to see Alexza settled in between the unusual spines decorating her Charizard's back.

"You giving me a lift?"

The green eyes glanced at her for a moment before she turned to look over her shoulder, prompting Olivia to do the same.

The water Olivia had been trying to avoid suddenly lit up in a bright yellow flash, destroying everything beneath the surface.

"We're almost there. How comfortable are you with falling?"

Olivia glanced up to look at the crazy blonde, a scathing retort on the tip of her tongue, when the dragon released its grip the comment was lost in her unprepared scream.

She scowled as Alexza fell next to her, the idiot having voluntarily leapt off the dragon's back, and crashed into the slowing remains of the flash flood. As the town's drainage system caught up with the sudden influx of water the two soaked preteens were already rushing into their second battle of the hour.

Zaku was standing on top of an overturned bench, a Marshtomp, Makuhita, and Meditite standing in front of him.

"Mui, arm thrust! Tai use mind reader and detect! Bank, I need you to use mudshot on Tai's mark!"

Zinita was also on the bench with her back to her brothers'. Her Chicorita, Pichu, and Pidgeotto battling in front of her.

Two grunts stood opposite of Zaku, their cannon-fodder Pokémon dropping like flies, while Zinita was struggling with two others – losing her Pichu several seconds later to a Pochyena's bite attack.

"Zaku! Zinita! Call back your teams!" – Alexza paused for breath and gave the kids a few seconds to do as she had ordered before yelling-

"Smog! Roast 'em all! Heat wave now!"

-and throwing herself down into a lingering puddle, yanking Olivia down with her.

"Hey!"

Pink eyes widened as she felt the puddle, and then the moisture in her soaked clothes, evaporate in a scorching blast of heat.

She watched with wide eyes as the grunt's dark _("dry" she thought with a wince)_ outfits caught on fire, the two kids watching with terrified eyes from a shattered store window.

Alexza's eyes never left the scene, a sick smirk pulling at her lips as she watched two of the six desperately try a "stop, drop, and roll" to put out the hungry flames devouring their bodies. The twelve year old's lips twitched before she stood up and waked over to her roaring Charizard, patting his scarred flank fondly.

Alexza turned to look at the two trembling children staring at her in horror from the destroyed store's doorway, her mouth snapped shut as she took in Zinita's tearful eyes and Zaku's ashen face. The grin vanished along with any of the pride she had been feeling, what had she been _thinking_?

She shook her head, swallowing down past the lump in her throat, and ignored the tears blurring her vision,

'_It's just the heat making those shimmers…'_

before calling back Smog and taking down the street at a run, blindly headed back to where she had started from.

* * *

Olivia stared at her friend's retreating figure for a few moments before getting to her feet and hugging the two younger kids.

"Wha-what was that 'Via?"

The purple haired girl looked down at the small ten year old that had climbed into her arms. She opened her mouth, but Zaku beat her to it.

"I don't know, Zin. But that can't have been Alexza."

Olivia turned to look at the lanky child, eyes narrowing. Now was _not_ the time to start living in the longest river of Egypt.

The large purple eyes the ten year old turned on her brother almost killed Olivia as she took a moment to wonder exactly how the small girl was shivering in the sweltering heat.

"Wha-what d-do you m-mean Zaza? Th-that was 'Lexza. Sh-she was scary! And s-so was her p-p-Pokémon!"

But her older brother shook his head firmly.

"Maybe it was, but she certainly wasn't _our_ Alexza!"

Zinita started to talk but Zaku silenced her with a large slash of his arm.

"No. I _know_ Alexza wouldn't do something that bad without a _reason_!"

His blue eyes darted swiftly to the street before returning back to his sister's face as his stomach began to roll from the sight of charred and burning corpses.

"Th-their shirts! You saw that big **M** they had on? It was the same one that was in that burned house we found in Petalburg! The one where the Sad Lady knew Alexza!"

Olivia scowled, the boy was clearly grasping at straws… and yet Zinita had nearly calmed down entirely upon mention of 'that burned house' and 'the Sad Lady'. The green haired child gave a small hiccup and nodded strongly.

"You-You're right Zaku!"

Olivia blinked in confusion as both the kids went 180 degrees in their moods before the two joined hands and raced down the street after their wayward guardian. Pink eyes looked up at the cloudy sky,

"I'm going to regret this one day… I just freakin' know it."

* * *

"Kiri! Hey! C-calm down! What's wrong?"

Marcus, embarrassingly enough, was panicking. In fact, he was panicking so badly he didn't even have time to berate himself for worrying about the smaller girl in his arms and how he had pulled her into them. He did, however, fully notice how his heart fuckin' _soared_ as her brown doe-eyes opened slightly to look up at him.

His face felt like a furnace as both kept silent in the now ebbing darkness, the shadowy remains thankfully hiding his furious blush. The dark haired boy swallowed harshly before he spat out

"Why are you screamin'?"

The girl's response was to wince violently and search for his hand, guiding it to rest on her shoulder where his fingers felt the warm stream of blood trickling from his rival's shoulder. His fingers quickly became coated in the crimson substance, the blood leaking out in time with her steady pulse.

He twitched in sympathy, carefully moving his fingers to press a thick section of Kiri's hoodie firmly to the hole in her shoulder. Both children sat tensely in the now dim cell, before Kiri's head lolled sleepily against his shoulder. Marcus glanced down with wide eyes before slowly lowering his head on top of hers' and dozing off himself.

He awoke to the loud crash and clang of the cell opening, silver eyes flashing up to stare into the man's familiar face.

"What do you want."

A chuckle seemed to slither out of the man with a spittle filled hiss.

"Aww, is the little boy worried about his girlfriend? Don't worry punk that's about to change."

He rolled a small metallic ball into the cell, laughing as he caught Marcus's eyes widening in horror.

"Have fun~!"

* * *

Marcus clutched Kiri to his chest tighter, pressing her head into his jacket before he ripped off his hood and wrapped it around his lower face in a desperate attempt to form a barrier between his lungs and what he knew was to come.

Kiri shifted a bit and he found his hand stroking her hair absently as his heart began to race in panic. Red lines were starting to form all over the ball's surface the lit patterns swirling ominously around the cell.

'_Watch closely, Little Flare, it will spin clockwise twice – then shift to counterclockwise for three patterns. Don't watch the third and fifth patterns! The third will capture you – and the fifth will _end_ you. The fifth will open it – and the nightmares will pour out.'_

'_Come on, come on… gotta think!'_

"Kiri…"

The brunette shifted sleepily, "What…"

"If I needed to kick a ball out an enclosed space, with two monitored ceiling vents, one side vent five feet up with a Pokémon behind it and charge-proof door three feet in front of me… where can I send the ball using only one pair of feet?"

'_Second pattern… c'mon freak!'_

"…the. Murkrow… ya gotta"

She yawned and winced as the deep breath tugged at her wound,

"make the ball… shiny."

Marcus's eyes widened at the obvious answer.

'_Of course… Murkrow's are kleptomaniacs – especially for shiny things!'_

The ten year old eyed the ball in front of him before finally reaching out and pulling it towards him with the toe of his sneaker. Taking a deep breath, Marcus paused before spitting violently at the ball several times.

'_Heh, see? All of those fights in school paid off."_

He rolled the still activated ball around, the lights causing it to gleam red entirely – a sudden screech and a rush of cold air drew his attention to the vent on the far wall as the Murkrow froze the bars before smashing them to bits, swooping over Marcus's head as it latched onto the ball with its talons. It only managed to hold onto the ball for forty seconds before it slipped from its talons to roll down the large vent where the Murkrow's nest had been.

Marcus glanced at the irate Pokémon before shuffling towards the nest, Kiri still balanced against him, swaying as he moved.

'_If its been here as long as I think it has… then it should have picked up- Yes!'_

He reached in and pulled out a few empty pokeballs, turning to toss one at the Murkrow before shoving the rest into his pocket. He let the now tame Murkrow out a few seconds later.

"Murkrow, please help us out. I need you to take a panel off of here so we can… hide this shiny from other people!"

The Pokémon had looked at him with disinterest before he had mentioned the part about hiding the special shiny. Now the human had his attention!

The small darkness Pokémon nodded and hopped over to a low panel on the wall and began to tear into the metal with its beak. His new human dropped to his knees and began to help him tear away the dark panel.

Marcus grinned triumphantly to himself as he jammed the panel in place, and Kiri claimed he was no good with Pokémon outside of battling!

He looked around and traded glances with his Murkrow before gently shaking his rival.

"Hey, princess! Wake up! We gotta get movin'!"

Kiri moaned and shook her head in his shoulder;

"Noo… five more minutes Wani…"

Before pressing her face deeper into his jacket, causing Marcus's face to flare up again and for his new Murkrow to let out a grating, laugh-like caw at his new human's embarrassment.

"Erk! Kiri! C'mon – freak! Don't do this! We really gotta get out of here!"

The brow eyes opened blearily, far too close to his own for comfort, before the snapped open fully as the injured ten year old attempted to back peddle out of her rival's arms.

"Hey! Whoa! Easy, easy! You're still hurt…"

Kiri looked around the now normally lit cell, her eyes falling onto something faintly glinting in the dim light.

"Marcus are you… _chained_ to that wall?"

At her rival's answering sigh and shaking of his chains she lapsed into a small giggle fit.

"What did you _do_?"

He scowled and turned to his Murkrow.

"Can you freeze and peck these off? …yeah do it then."

Kiri watched in amazement as the Pokémon hopped over to the chains on the floor and began to do just that, alternating between breathing a fine mist onto the chains before pecking away at the cracking metal.

"Hey! Is that?"

"Yeah it is. What? Don't judge me! He's gonna get us out of here aren't you Keeran?"

"Keeran?"

"What? …It's Celtic for 'Little Dark One'."

"Pfft! What are you, a translation site?"

"Shut up!"

The two children watched as the imposing door ahead of them was frozen and started to crack.

"C'mon princess, help me kick a hole in it."

Surprisingly, with the help of Keeran, the two had a fair sized hole kicked out in several minutes. Kiri hurried through, Keeran right behind her, while Marcus turned to look at the jammed plate. His grey eyes widened as he saw the little black arms start to seep through the now buckling plate.

"We gotta move!"

He grabbed Kiri's arm and took off down the hall, making seemingly random turns every other cross section. About ten minutes into their mad dash Kiri realized something.

"Hey! Why isn't anyone around here? How come we haven't set off any alarms yet?"

Marcus winced. He had been hoping that she would have just gone along with it and, you know, _not_ look that particular gift horse in the mouth.

"...'Cause we're just that lucky, alright? Just shut up and keep moving!"

Marcus paused, his grip on Kiri's arm tightening and he pulled them both sharply against the wall, and into the shadows, as a sobering grunt staggered past.

"That was close…"

"Yeah, next time we should…"

He trailed off, eyes catching on something on Kiri's head.

"I was right about you! Only weaklings need to cheat like this!"

Kiri paused at looked up at her rival, moving to clasp her hand over his where he was touching her hair clips.

"What are you talking about? My big sister gave these to me!"

He looked shocked for a few seconds before smirking at her,

"Then you owe her a big thanks – and she owes the league a big explanation. Here- let me see those."

He took the small clips from the girl and began to twist the designs out of their sockets.

"Hey! Stop that! You're gonna break them!"

"Shut up! If I'm right, then we can get out here!"

Kiri watched in amazement as he yanked out the small pokeball charm only to press his thumb nail to the small center button – causing what she had thought to be a harmless decoration to grow into an actual pokeball.

"No way…"

"Yeah, tricky of her huh? The only question is, what did she give you?"

"I don't know… wait! My Pokémon!"

Kiri checked her pockets, already resigned to find that her Pokémon had been taken from her.

"That's where we're headed."

She looked at him oddly,

"How do you know that?"

Grey eyes flickered to her face and then to some far off place.

"Just… trust me."

* * *

"Ah! Kiri! Now would be a _great_ time to learn what your crazy sister gave ya!"

It had been going so smoothly, they found the right room, watched a grunt punch in the code, and then it was their turn.

Well… the grunt came back, and he brought two friends. So now they were out numbered, Pokémon less, and staring down the snarling muzzles of two Pochyena and one nasty looking Mightyena.

"Alright then!"

Kiri enlarged the pokeball from her left barrette and threw it just ahead of the pair.

"I need some help!"

And with that the pokeball opened.

* * *

Before the white form could even collect a huge wave of heat swept through the area, the ground beneath the still forming figure melted and warped with the power of the now free Pokémon, smoke rising up from the charred and melted metal clouding everyone's view.

Kiri and Marcus backed up, both realizing that neither of them would be able to command the Pokémon the odd elder sister had sent Kiri.

When the smoke cleared, the huge bear like haunches of a scarred Typhlosion filled their vision, sharp spikes of fire rose and flared around its neck, like a lion's mane, as it reared back onto its haunches and roared wildly.

Kiri heard her and Marcus's pokedex go off in the grunt's hands, the chirpy voices giving the thieves a brief snippet of information;

"**Typhlosion obscures itself behind a shimmering heat haze that it creates using its intensely hot flames. This Pokémon creates blazing explosive blasts that burn everything to cinders.**"

One of the grunts startled at the sound and threw the pokedex. It fell just between Kiri and the volcano Pokémon, where it recognized Kiri as she dashed to pick it up before throwing herself backwards towards Marcus.

"**Name:** Zuko, **Gender:** Male, **OT: **Alexza S. Namigaii,** Moves: **Flame Wheel, Swift, Eruption, Blast Burn. **Badges Needed:** Seven"

Marcus glanced at the massive Pokémon before looked back at the slightly melted pokedex.

"So what do we do for now? Sit here and hope it doesn't eat us?"

Kiri looked up at the large Pokémon trying to remember if she had ever met it.

_~ "And this is Zuko!" _

_The little nine year old cocked her head to the side,_

"_Like from that TV show? Why would you name him that?"_

_She watched as her big sisters face fell into sadness as she carefully turned the little Cyndaquil around to show its left side. A horrible burn mark stretched over its entire left face. _

"_The professor says it'll grow smaller as he evolves… but it'll never fade. He's a little grumpy, very explosive, and I think he'll grow to be one of my strongest ever. So I named him Zuko. Just like that boy from the show."_

_The brunette giggled brightly_

"_You also liiiked him!"_

"_Hush up you!" ~_

"…Zuzu?"

"What are you doing? Do you want to die?"

Kiri shot the boy a dirty look,

"That's my sister's starter from her time here!"

Marcus seemed to choke on something invisible.

"Her _starter!_ Is she fuckin' _**insane?**_ Starters are unstably loyal! Not to mention _it's a fully grown Typhlosion_! For Arceus's sake is she _trying_ to kill you?"

The two turned back as they noticed the screams of the three grunts as they ran down the hallway, fire devouring their forms. Their Pokémon running ahead of their trainers as their panic to get away from the hulking Pokémon over took them.

The Pokémon's scarred eye turned to look at the small children before it fell back down on all four legs. It slowly turned around and began to inch towards them, the flame on its mane lowering and slowly it nudged the cornered children with its large muzzle.

Kiri cracked open one eye to look as the massive Pokémon gently licked her wounded shoulder. A trembling hand reached up and rested on top of the large head.

"I-I think he's _kinda_ friendly…"

"Kiri, _friendly_ for a rouge starter is like '_I'm gonna kill you quickly'_! That's _not_ my version of 'friendly'!"

She turned to look at Marcus, who frankly looked like he was going to wet himself, before she found the ground being pulled out from her feet as the large mongoose like Pokémon placed her onto his back. It then proceeded to nudge Marcus several times, Kiri started to giggle as it tried to gently lift her rival up too- only to miss as the boy flinched away.

"Marcus I think he wants you up here too…"

"Yeah… I get that he's not tryin' to eat _you,_ he is your sister's after all… but I think I'm still fair gaaaaame!"

His last word was pulled out into a yelp as Zuko became fed up with the young male's behavior and simply flung him into the air, catching him behind Kiri with a grunt.

"Holy shi- ow!"

"Language!"

* * *

Forty minutes later the two kids found themselves barreling towards a pair of large oak doors, still riding on Zuko's warm back. So far they had reclaimed their scattered Pokémon, trashed three labs, set twenty-three grunts on fire, and now were hoping to at least burn down the main office if not take out the boss.

Zuko glared at the oncoming doors before he began to gather flames near his mouth. A small gasp from Marcus caught Kiri's attention.

"You need to watch this. I think he's about to use a controlled…"

The ten year old was cut off as the Pokémon's body temperature began to singe them slightly before Zuko unleashed the build up with one loud roar.

"Blast Burn!"

The doors buckled as the deadly inferno ate away the wooden exterior of the doors before setting into the expensive looking metal slates. The gears melted and buckled as the fireball continued to press in – a loud groan echoed before the wall of wood and metal submitted entirely, exploding violently into pieces of deadly shrapnel that volleyed outward - slicing everything to shreds.

Kiri received a two inch splinter to her arm, as Marcus clutched his cheek where a fine cut leaked a thick stream of blood. Fortunately it seemed that Zuko was used to battling on his own, as the Typhlosion had used Protect almost immediately to avoid the backlash of the attack.

What neither of them had expected was to see the pair of golden eyes stare out at them from the rubble.

* * *

It had been a boring day, the teenager reflected as she walked down the alleyway, dusk settling over the town behind her.

No one was on the hit list anymore _(byproduct of a previous boring day)_, no Pokémon to be stolen, she already had a full team – so going out to catch them was also not an option _(not only was that boring way to do it – she also just didn't like wasting time. If the team she had on hand wasn't good enough then she deserved what she got)_ and to top it all off, the head-hat (_silly man wanted her to call him her "Boss". Didn't he know she already had a master?)_ had ordered her to "take the day off". He really was a silly man.

Oh well, it was nearing dark now. By all technicalities she _had_ taken the _day_ off. So here she was, ready to enter through the grunt's entrance (_because the head-hat really hadn't appreciated her amazing talent of suddenly "appearing" in his office.)_ only to find that the evacuation alert was running – along with several runts who seemed to be covered in carnivorous flames.

A purple eyebrow rose as she pulled out her newest toy. They we're going to die anyways – she might as well get to have some fun too!

Ten minutes, and six grunts, later she had discovered that two ten year old trainers had broken out of their cell by using the Pokémon sent to watch them. Not only that, but one of them was a Kazangan… and the other was the younger sibling of her favorite prey.

A feral smile crossed the assassin's lips. Maybe tonight wouldn't be quite as boring as the light hours.

* * *

She found their trail easily, noticing somewhat absently that the Kazangan seemed to know his way around, 'extinguishing' grunts as she went. Quickly latching onto their half-baked scheme, the young assassin decided to up the ante and see if the younger Namigaii could keep up like her sister could. If she could… then maybe she wouldn't feel _too_ bad about bringing her into their little game. And if she couldn't? Well, then, the head-hat got to keep his captives.

She watched in glee as their little eyes widened as she stared out from behind Anatha's protect.

Though her mood _was_ a little spoiled by that over grown weasel's appearance. The thing had bothered her as a Cyndaquil and it only became more troublesome as Alexza had raised it. If she remembered correctly it had beaten Rizaadon the last time the two fought, though it had been a tough match, both trainers helping as much as they could.

It was time for a little revenge… the purplette smiled as she tossed a pokeball up and down. Yep, defiantly time for a little payback.

* * *

The golden eyes stared out at the young children, the owner of the haunting eyes flickered into view with the damaged lights.

"Welcome children! Ah-ah-ah little one, you look _so_ much like your sister!"

The teenager's laughter sent chills down their spines, Marcus turned to Kiri, an eyebrow raised as if to ask '_you_ know_ this crazy person?'_

Kiri stared with wide eyes at the purple haired menace. There was no way this could be… she wasn't supposed to come after _her!_ Alexza was supposed to have the all the bad luck!

"And you have her Pokémon too! This should be… _fun."_

With a mad cackle of laughter the two children were forced to the ground as Zuko threw them from his back as he tackled a red blur out of the air. A mighty roar of pain echoed through the large room as Zuko's jaws clamped around the feral Charizard's neck. The Typhlosion's claws ripping deep gashes into the dragon's striped stomach and wings.

Two of the three trainers stared in awe as Kanto and Johto's fire type starters struggled furiously at ground level. Neither Pokémon willing to let the other gain an inch of ground as they stood, front legs locked together in a power struggle, on their hind legs.

"Oi! Lovebirds! Yoo-who~ You really should be paying more attention to lil ole me over here!"

The insane woman laughed again as the two ten year olds sputtered out their cries of denial and disbelief. Neither reaching for their reclaimed Pokémon, as she continued to laugh – quickly reaching for two of her pokeballs.

With a sudden sharp laugh she threw a dark ball out onto the 'field'. A Sneasel jumped out and attacked the two children without command – sending a hypothermic breeze of frozen air their way.

"Ah! Enshou, come out and use flamethrower!"

"Nadare, coil around us and use Iron Defense!"

The small Growlithe leapt in front of the massive Steelix and unleashed a large stream of flames that melted a large portion of the Sneasel's attack. The iron snake hardened itself as it protected the two young children from the rest of the attack.

A few seconds later the young Growlithe retreated behind the Steelix, as the older and more experienced Sneasel's attack overpowered and outlasted the flamethrower being sent at it.

Marcus grit his teeth as the cold wind seeped through the small holes the poor coiled Steelix had left as it used its body as their shield.

"Nadare, move it before you freeze solid! Lash out with iron tail to tear up the field and then slam some of the turf down with stone edge!"

"JaX, get that Steelix away from the kiddies! And while you're at it –KO the pup with shadow claw!"

The kids watched in horror as the Sneasel literally blurred from their sight to carry out the teen's orders.

"Enshou!"

The little growlithe fell to the ground as three dark tears surged into existence on its chest. Kiri scowled as she called him back, she looked at the Sneasel as it slowly taunted Marcus's Steelix further away from them.

'_Why would she want to do that… !"_

Kiri noticed too late that both she and Marcus had forgotten two very important facts…

"Marcus! Call her back! Call her back _now!"_

Marcus turned to look at Kiri, noticing too late the massive fireball hurtling towards the Sneasel and Steelix. He caught Akumu's smirk as she recalled her Pokémon to safety. The male trainer screamed with his Steelix as the inferno hit his Pokémon seconds before he could call her back. The ultra ball in his hand beeped thrice to let him know that the iron snake had fainted before being recalled.

He and Kiri exchanged glances before they both sent out their water types.

"Shaku-Wani! Let's soak 'em!"

"Battle time, Kaikaku!"

The male Croconaw and female Wartortle faced each other in confusion before realizing that their trainers were working together for once.

"Kaikaku,"

"Wani,"

"**Water gun!"**

The twin, highly pressurized, water attacks arced through the air towards the two battling fire-types. Their combined attacks managing to douse several of the rampaging flames left behind from the two clashing Pokémon, only for the jets of water to evaporate into large clouds of steam as they reached within three feet of the now irked starters.

Zuko and Rizaadon turned to cast glares at the now trembling water starters. Before the two children turned to see the girl cast another Pokémon into the fray.

"Finish them."

A small Pikachu raced from the pokeball and volt tackled the still paralyzed water types, KOing the younger Pokémon with the attack. It was the children's turn to freeze as they watched their first Pokémon fall before their eyes… before they turned to look up at the strangely remorseful face of their attacker.

"W-who the hell _are_ you? What do you want with us?"

The girl sneered at Marcus before answering,

"Well, as it seems you little ones couldn't keep up after all… I guess it couldn't hurt. You younglings can call me Akumu. As for what _I _want with you? Nothing. But then _you_ should know how the command structure works around here, eh Kazangan?"

The last thing they saw was a Cheshire cat smile and two glinting gold eyes. A single thought ran through Kiri's head;

'_I'm really getting sick of this…'_

* * *

It had been a long trek underground to the head-hat's _real_ office, especially while carrying the two prone ten year olds over her shoulders… and having to subdue that nasty Typhlosion had really just been the icing on the proverbial cake.

All in all it _had_ been an interesting night.

But upon reaching the long, dimly lit, hallway a shiver of apprehension traveled up Akumu's spine. The assassin shook her head and continued onward as the large doors ground open, pausing a moment to recalculate exactly how strong the Blast Burn she had witnessed truly was – as the doors that guarded the fake office were an exact replica of the doors she was now walking through.

Akumu stood at attention in front of the large oak desk, setting the two children gently down on the stone floor. She nudged them a few times until they started to twitch back to awareness.

"So… Wadda want with these kids anyways?"

The chair didn't turn, but the odd hat did twitch as the roaring fire flared up to lick at the stone ceiling.

For a few moments all she could do was wait, and attempt not to fidget in the sweltering heat, before the voice rang out.

"Good work 666. Now, end them."

Kiri and Marcus's heads jerked and they both turned wide eyes to look at the purple haired assassin. Akumu stared at the back of her 'boss' in disbelief, this man was kidding right?

"You can't be serious."

"Perfectly so. Now I believe I gave you an order."

"Did you forget to read my contract? I. Don't. Kill. _Children!"_

The man turned to look at them, his silver eyes flashing with annoyance.

"Then it's you or them,_ Kriemhild."_

Akumu's eyes widened as she unconsciously took a step back, no one was supposed to know that name. _No one._ She hadn't heard that name for nearly two years. Sure it was just another work name… but the things she had _done _under that alias still haunted _her_ dreams.

Cruel laughter broke her out of her shocked thoughts.

"You think that your precious agency would deny me any information on you if I demanded it? Of course they wouldn't girl – not with you being what you are."

Akumu gritted her teeth. It was the truth, she knew that, had known that since day one all those years ago. But to hear it this way, after so many years of loyal service – nothing mattered. He was right, that was what she was. It was the truth… and that _stung_.

But to toss away _younglings_ for a simple _contract_?

'_He would never forgive me… and I would never forgive myself. I __**won't**__ break my vows.'_

"Well, get on with it."

"No."

Now the chair twitched, and Akumu smiled nastily, knowing the man wouldn't risk giving the two children a chance to recognize him. Knowing that he longed to sneer and glare – but would never get the pleasure.

"What was that?"

"I said 'No', or is that hat too tight on your head? Constricting the blood flow to your small brain could be dangerous, _boss,_ considering you have don't have much to risk up there in the first place."

The ten year olds stared up at her in shock and Akumu had to repress a snort at their open amazement. They didn't really _fall_ for her insanity ploy did they?  
She spared a quick glance down to get a look at their eyes.

'_Huh, looks like they did.'_

"You'll be cast out for this Kriemhild!"

The assassin smirked at the now trembling chair;

"You can't possibly believe that that's the _only_ agency I work for. There are others willing to take me in. _There always will be._"

She quickly hoisted the shocked children back up onto her shoulders and hip, pausing for a decisive moment before calling over her shoulder;

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to let the Master know that you're no longer…_required._"

In the corner of her eye she managed to make out the gloved hand slam down on the alarm button, did this man truly think so little of her? She had already locked his extra teams down in the reservoir with a few sudden ice attacks and a well placed stun bomb.

The ceiling tiles whizzed quickly overhead, _a lovely shade of brimstone,_ as she took a moment to glance up at the ceiling;

'_Well, at least if there are any surprises, at least I'll get to knock off a few elites.'_

She cast a quick glance to the children that were now beginning to catch up with the unlikely situation.

'_And at least I won't be alone.'_

_

* * *

_

*_Kriemhild _is German for 'Battle Mask'.

*_Fukumen, Akumu_ (Akumu being her first name) is Japanese for 'Masked, Nightmare'. In English her name would be said 'Nightmare Masked'.

*_ Kazangan _is Japanese for lava or volcanic rock. …spoiler much?

AN.2: Wow... I had some amazing grammar mistakes in here. They aren't all fixed, and it's no where near perfect - but it's better than it was. I apologize to those who thought this was an update... but I should have something for you by Sunday. Maybe. Life is hard. With three semester papers, a play, a free-writing assignment for English (there is also an assigned paper...) and life. Well... this ends up being pretty low on my list - to the point where it has fallen off the said list for the past few months. I may be going back and re-writing / editing the old chapters in hope to make what I have less of an embaressment to both me and you (my few, blessed readers). Thank you for supporting me and at least reading some of the chapters. Knowing that you guys care enough to come check out my writing really makes my day.  
Good luck guys, Claire


	19. And we're back!

Hack, slash, rush, dodge. Turn a corner and repeat.

Akumu glanced backwards at the mass of bodies strewn about the corridor behind her, grinning as she caught a glimpse of a spasm-ing hand attempting to haul its owner up – only to clutch weakly at empty air before falling still.

The startled shriek of her unwilling passengers quickly refocused her attention.

Right, running.

And, you know, _not_ dropping one of the kids into the pooling puddles of crimson. The glassy, smooth, _deep_ pools of a deadly tide that was puling her –

Akumu ground her teeth and clenched her eyes shut before snapping both her eyelids and jaw open.

_Too close, too close, too fucking close! Can't go back there, can't take up that mask. I'm not. I'm not!_

**_Kriemhild_**

That damn name was still following her, the eyes still lurking in her shadow. But she could out run her shadow now, leave it behind and vanish without a trace.

_Though 'disappearing' was a lot easier without the 100+ pounds of extra weight..._

A few blue strands flitted under her nose as her blade made contact with the owner of the hair. She pursed her lips and bit back a sigh as her lovely blade painted the drab corridor with the color of life, the ruby red standing out against the pure white of the downed agents shirt.

_Another one, through the shoulder this time… I must be more tired than I thought._

Neck wounds were messy _(Not as bloody as head wounds and not as damaging as chest wounds… at least she thought she had hit the neck. She was close enough anyway… and if she wasn't then Maeve's blessing would finish it for her)_, and she didn't like leaving things out of their place. Her heel was already turning, pivoting, shifting her weight downwards, ready to bestow the finishing blow – and stopped herself half way as she felt two little hearts beat furiously against her back and side. The girl was taking in jagged breaths, and the boy had buried his face in her hair _(which had fallen out of it's tight knot when one of the many corpses managed to clip the boy's shoulder, and he in turn had slipped and undone her hair while scrabbling for further purchase.)_ both frightened of what they were seeing.

She sighed again and continued to run down the hall.

_Nearly out now… then it's a quick flight down to the base. The g-forces should be more than enough to knock the younglings out._

Her thought process paused as she found herself subconsciously shifting the child on her back into a more comfortable position and noticed her free hand absently stroking the girl-child's brown hair. She took a moment, already safely hidden far into the convenient forest, to stop and stare at her hand before sheathing her dirty blade.

One thought echoed ominously in her head.

_…When did I go soft?_

_-Break-_

Another shudder wracked the small girl's frame and she tugged her knees tighter to her chest. Puffy green eyes blinked slowly as an already soiled sleeve re-wiped the girl's wet face.

_'I'm so pathetic…'_

Alexza sighed and let her head fall onto her boney knees, the tension finally flowing out of her stiff form. She blinked again and grinned ruefully around the dark expanse of the closet around her.

_'I ran straight from that machine into my room's freaking **closet**. What would Olivia say if she could see me now?'_

Which, unfortunately, led to all sorts of guilt filled roads – all of them ending in the same, gut wrenching, end.

She had lost it.

Simply and cleanly lost it. For Arceus's sake she _murdered_ three men in front of two ten year olds!

With a half-muted cry the blonde slammed her fist down onto the roughly carpeted floor of the closet. Whimpering slightly when she heard an un-nerving ***_crack_**_*_ and jerking as the small stings of carpet burn were belatedly swept into her nervous system.

_"Damn it!"_

_-Break-_

Olivia sighed tiredly and slowly dragged a hand down her face.

She was done.

Zaku and Zinita had eaten quickly,

_" 'I'm not all that hungry Ms. Olivia…'_ _the green haired child whispered as she pushed her plate away from her. Purple eyes filled with concern as her brother turned green after smelling the cooked meat of his earlier coveted burger."_

Washed up, and were now safely locked up in their room – with their, now healed yet still on edge, Pokémon out to keep them company.

And Olivia herself?

The pink eyed pre-teen had been able to hold down her own meal, _after all it wasn't the first time she'd seen someone killed,_ and was now scouring the still intact rooms of the Pokémon center, looking for her wayward friend.

She had just stopped to catch her breath when a loud ***_thud_*** caught her attention. She looked at the nondescript door, tall and cold. Blank save for the tiny brass numbers – the same as the last ten she had passed since starting her search.

Still, this door made her hesitate before slipping the master card key in.  
(_Perhaps that had more to do with the handsome boy she had walked in on in room 118 rather than any significance to this door in itself… but that's another story)_

With a happy chirp and an affirmative green light, the door gave off a light click and swung open.

"_Damn it!"_

Olivia shook her head, making her way to the closet as quickly as she could. Absently noting the six locked pokeballs scattered on the undisturbed mattress, the haphazardly flung coat on the back of a chair, and the large black back-pack hurled into a far corner of the room.

With a small grin she opened up the closet doors and with a quick summersault gently bounced against the wall next to her still teary friend.

The pink eyed girl gave her friend a grin as she toed the doors shut again, leaving the two in darkness. She took a breath, put her head on the blondes' shoulder and murmured;

"What's up?"

_-Break-_

**AN: I'm back baby! Wow. Ok. So my real life has been… odd. Let's go with "odd".  
I'm sorry and I hope the few people that read this story can forgive me.  
Make sure y'all read the Christmas special I'm putting up next ok? **

**I plan on getting in contact with everyone's favorite author, xXhootsXx, to help me write the darn thing too!**

**So. I'll be seeing y'all when that gets done! ((Hopefully soon!)) Till then!**

**-C.N.**


	20. Merry Christmas W xXhootsXx

Olivia: It's almost Christmas. **stretches on the sofa** I wonder if Santa is coming.

Ash: Umm...do you really believe in Santa? No offense, but you don't look like the type to...

Olivia: **eyes glint maniacally** What do you mean? Santa is totally real! He comes to everyone's house and gives little kids presents. **grips Ash's shirt** RIGHT, PUNK?

Ash: Um. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's real. So's Rudolph and all of the elves.

Olivia: **smiles** I knew you were just kidding. **skips away merrily**

Ash: Whoo...what a creep.

Lilith: **smirk** That's my sister.

Kiki: ...See, others believe!

Kiri: **sweat drop**

Kimi: Haha! **Claps hands excitedly** I knew we weren't alone! **eyes 'sparkle'** There are other believers out there!

Kiri: ...that just makes you sound like you're looking for aliens!

Kimi: Psssh! Everyone knows about the grand intergalactic battle between the Great Space Squids and the Temporal Whales!

Kiki: The aliens are simply caught up in the mess and have been kidnapping our retired Penguin Referees out of Antarctica because our technology isn't advanced enough for us to help yet. **nods in a sage like manner**

Alexza & Kiri: **sweat drop and back away slowly**

Zaku: **stage whisper** Hey, Alexza... your other sisters are crazy! I see why you didn't mention them befo-ow!

Zinita: Santa is REAL! Isn't he Alexza? **turns large 'puppy' eyes full force onto the skeptical blonde**

Kiri: **snickers before Alexza elbows her in the gut**

Alexza: Of course he is Zinita. Don't let /anyone/ tell you otherwise. In fact, if someone does - tell them to come and see me! Okay? Or just tell me who they are. Alright?

Zinita: ...okay! **runs off to find Olivia and compare Whish-lists**

Olivia: ZINITA! YOU BELIEVE!

Ash: -_-

Olivia: I love Christmas! **skips around** It is my most favorite time of the YEARRRR! **starts humming Jingle Bells**

Lilith: Your happiness greatly irritates me.

Olivia: Hush, sis! **spins around in a circle** We are going to decorate our Christmas tree. Kiki, Kiri, Kimi, Alexza, and everybody else, let's decorate.

Brock: I don't really wanna...

Olivia: **tugs on his ear** You will. Now.

Ash: **reluctantly puts a candy cane on the tree**

Olivia: **grin**

Zinita: YAY! **throws Santa hats on everyone's heads - and forcefully jams a pair of antlers onto Ash's head with a sneaky leap off of a near by couch**

Alexza (12) : - _ - ... **sighs**

Richard: I'll go and get a ladder shall I? Olivia, here's a coin. Why don't you and the little one's flip to see who gets to place the topper on the tree?

Alexza (16): **dancing around while decorating the large tree** ~Oh hear the bells, sweet carol the bells, all seem to say throw cares away!~ Zaku, join in!

Zaku (15): ... Christmas is here, bringing good cheer,

Olivia (12): To young and old! Meek and the bold!

Kiki: Ding, Dong,

Kimi: Ding, Dong!

Kiri: That is their song!

Akumu: **cackling crazily while balancing Marcus on her shoulders, foregoing the ladder entirely**

~With joyful ring, all caroling! One seems to hear, words of good cheer, from ev'rywhere, filling the air!~

Marcus: Ah! Hold still! Stop flipping! You're going to drop me you - aaah!

Akumu: Shut it, brat. It's Christmas. I ain't gonna drop ya during the Lord's season. AND **thwacks him upside the head** While I'm impressed that you know that language, cursin' is also frowned upon in this holy season.

Marcus: ...holy **receives a sharp rap the back of his head** you're f-freakin' religious.

Akumu: ...yeah, and?

Marcus: Ever heard of 'Thou shalt not kill' ?

[Claire: Let's move away from this plummeting discussion shall we?]

Kimi: We three call heads!

Kiki: But, I wanted tails...

Kiri: Don't group me up with you guys!

Alexza (16): **Laughing** Cheer up! 'Via's got it right! It's Christmas for goodness sakes! Live a little will ya? **ruffles Kiri's hair**

Zaku (11): ...wow. She's really different. Hey! Zinita! Lay off the peppermint sugar will you? Claire! Stop encouraging her! You ate one first!

Claire: Meep! Run for it Zinita! We've been caught! **takes off with a candy cane between her teeth**

Olivia: It's all right. They can put the topper on the Christmas tree.

Ash: **tugs on pair of antlers** Zinita, that really hurt my head! Aghhh!

Zinita: **giggles**

Lilith: I never would have struck you as the religious type, Akumu. But I must confess, I am also very...religious.

**complete silence**

Lilith: **whips out sword** Start talking.

Olivia: Anywayysss...Claire, I want some more peppermint! **runs behind couch**

Claire: **passes Olivia a piece of homemade peppermint bark and another candy cane** Here... but SHH!

Zinita: **takes another leap off of the couch Claire is hiding behind and lands heavily on Ash's back. Her tongue pokes out to one corner of her mouth as she holds onto the flailing boy and attempts to straighten the brown antlers** Hold still!

Akumu: I know. Actually the Bible is full of many sayings that can be useful in times of war and suffering - for both sides. **grins** Just because I damn other people doesn't mean I want to go down myself!

Alexza (12): How self-sacrificing of you. Of course you're going to get in. It's not like you've done anything TERRIBLE!

Akumu: ...you get credit for trying. AND I just saved your little sister! ...I still HAVE your little sister. I wouldn't be mouthing off if I were you! **snags Kiri and holds a dagger to her throat**

Kiri: ...how many times do I have to ask to be LET OUT OF THIS STUPIDITY?

Marcus: **clinging desperately to the large limbs of the half decorated Christmas tree** #$! !# AKUMU! I told you, you were going to drop me! ...HEY! Leave Kiri alone!

Akumu: ...didn't know ya cared kid. Pssh a itty bitty fall like that ain't gonna hurt ya... much.

Claire: I think we're out of bark. Do you want to help me make some more?

Zinita: ASHY! Stop moving! You're going to make us crash!

Alexza (15) & (12): #$! !# AKUMU! Back off! Put down the dagger and step away from the child!

Richard: Okay I got a ladder! And - **pauses, noting; Lilith brandishing a sword, Marcus clinging to the side of the large tree, Zinita piggy-backing Ash into walls while yanking on the antlers on the boy's head, Akumu holding a dagger to a young brunet's throat, the Alexzas going berserk of said endangerment of the child, and Oliva's eyes getting larger as the sugar from the candy canes kicks in.** Oh dear.

Claire: ...and, you know, get out of this room before we get threatened too?

Ash: WAAAGHHH! **flails around** I told you, I don't want to be a REINDEER!

Zinita: Heehee, you have to be!

Olivia: Candycandycandycandycandy CANEEEEEEEEEEEE! **starts skipping around the room, singing a song**

Lilith: Idiots. **skulks off somewhere**

Ash: **starts staggering around, dangerously close to Christmas tree**

Olivia: **dancing around in a sugar-induced state, waaay too close to the Christmas tree**

Richard: Wow. I think I am going to leave now. **starts backing away slowly***

Lilith: **reappears** Akumu, I have found some Christmas parties to...crash. Richard, you may come as well.

Akumu: **puts down dagger** Okay, Lily! Let's go party! Let's go crash some parties.

Richard: All right. I'm cool with that.

**Lilith, Akumu, and Richard all leave**

Kiri: Wow. People can be really stupid.

**Ash, Zinita, and Olivia crash into Christmas tree**

Everyone: !

CRASH!

**Marcus lands in Olivia's lap. Ash's reindeer antlers fall off. The Christmas tree topples over and hits the floor. Ornaments scatter everywhere in broken shards.**

Olivia: Oh my gosh...what have we done?

Claire: **stares in horror as the glass cuts everyone in the room. Raises one sleeve covered hand to dap at the small trail of blood trailing down her cheek**

Alexza (16): **mutters curses before bending down to pick Kimi and Kiki off of the glass covered ground and onto her hips, before striding darkly out the door.**

Kiri: **looks around helplessly, wincing at the many cuts on her arms - before running toward Marcus and Olivia** Marcus! Are you alright?

Olivia: I ain't feeling the love pipsqueak! **Stands and brushes the many shards of glass off of her clothes, wincing when the motion drives several imbedded shards further into her flesh**

Marcus: ...Crap. We're in trouble aren't we? Its Christmas Eve, and we just smashed the damn tree.

Alexza (12): C'mon. We gotta clean this up - and Claire? Can you get us a new tree?

Claire: **shakes head slowly** Yeah, I can go and get one. C'mon Hoots! As the authoresses its our duty to buy a tree and insure our characters happiness!

Hoots: ...couldn't we just write a new one in?

Claire: **mutters** And stay to deal with the clean up?

Hoots: Good point. **louder** Okay we're gonna go get a tree!

Claire: Make sure you guys clean up! We'll let the three older kids know if we run into them!

Zaku (15): **lets out a Staraptor** Flap the glass out the window please. **a wind picks up and everyone dashes to the other side of the room to avoid being slashed with the propelled shards of glass as they sail out the window** Thank you. **returns the Staraptor**

Everyone: **Looks around dismally at the suddenly very empty looking room**

Hoots & Claire: Hey! We're back!

Hoots: We got the last tree!

Claire: And because it was their last they decorated it for us! Spiffy, eh? ((- not going to admit that they did eventually give up and write in a new tree.))

Alexza (12): And where is it? I don't see you two carrying it...

Hoots: Turn around silly!

Everyone: **turns around to see a large, lit and decorated tree standing slightly to the left of where the old tree once stood**

Olivia: Wow. That was fast.

Zinita: CHRISTMAS! **dances in place for a few seconds before yawning**

Zaku: And that's my cue! C'mon Zinita, I'm sure the bigger Alexza's fixed a room for us and I bet her sisters are already asleep.

Kiri: **yawns** Yeah~ better get to bed before Santa comes...

Marcus: **glances at Kiri and scoffs slightly before taking her hand and pulling the sleepy girl down the hallway**

Alexza (12): **Looks at Olivia for a moment before blushing slightly and turning towards the doorway.** C'mon 'Via. We don't wanna scare off Santa by still being up...

Olivia: ** blinks several times before smiling broadly at her embarrassed friend before catching up with her**

Claire: **sits down on the couch, back to the tree, feet propped up on the table resting in front of a large fire.** Merry Christmas, Hoots. **clinks glass of hot coco with Hoots and takes a drink.** Merry Christmas.

**AN: Hey guys! Thus ends the rough, as-it-was-written, version of xXhootsXx 's and mine Christmas special. This chapter will stand alone (as I personally like it as it is) and tomorrow I will be posting an edited, actual story formatted chapter – which will involve ALL of the characters. Including Kassy and Blaze! So, Merry Christmas y'all! I'm off to mass in a few minutes. Thanks for reading! **

**-Claire4522 **


	21. Waking Up before you loose it all

Alexza tensed for a few moments before giving in and sagged against her stubborn friend with a small hiccup.

"Oh…" she choked out, "Nothing much. You know, just mourning the dead." She ended the sentence with a sardonic laugh.

Olivia gave her friend a worried look.

_I don't like the sound of that laugh…_

"I always thought that involved candles and… stuff." She ended weakly. Because, really? What was she supposed to say to that!

Her blonde companion simply sighed and nestled deeper into her knees. Olivia barely restrained herself from smacking her own forehead.

_Right. Not helping._

"So…"

She paused again, before sighing and brushing back a few errant locks of purple hair.

"Look. I'm twelve. You're twelve. We're children! We… we mess up. We make mistakes, and then we _do better_. Its- that's what childhood is for! I mean, that's why we set out when we're so little! Have our big adventures and mistakes when we're young so that when we're older it doesn't happen again!"

_Though it doesn't always work that way… Does it XxXx?_

She shook off that thought and stopped for breath, noting with deep satisfaction that her words seemed to finally be reaching Alexza.

"Besides, its not like you killed _saints_ or anything…" she stuttered for a moment, realizing that she was about to tread into sensitive territory.

"and…" She stuttered again. "and I'm sure Zaku and Zinita were right when they assured me that you had a reason, a good one, for your actions…"

Pink eyes slid back to the now loosely balled up pre-teen, Alexza's head was resting on her knees, face cast into shadows by her drooping hair.

"ze kamsm meh siskmsmhff"

Olivia blinked, not entirely sure that what she had just heard was English.

"Wha?"

Alexza's head shot up, face red and fresh tears leaking down her cheeks.

"They killed my sister!"

Both pairs of eyes widened before, in the same moment, Alexza tried to shuffle sideways (_away) _and Olivia lunged to her right.

Olivia was quicker by a long shot. Her arms wrapped around her now sobbing friend, pulling Alexza into a semi-awkward hug.

Olivia swallowed harshly. She knew what that feeling was like – loosing a sister. Possibly forever… but she had _found_ something, and now seeing her friend _(the first one she had bothered to make in awhile…) _sobbing over something that had almost shattered her too. It only bolstered her resolve to find **Her.**

_I can __**do **__something about this. I can __**help**__ here. …and maybe she'll help me too. Maybe this won't set me back as far as I thought it would._

Another laugh rang out, this one sad and accepting – though how Olivia knew that she had no idea. This was a good laugh.

As Alexza calmed down and pulled out of the hug, she sent a small smile at her stubborn friend.

For a moment there was silence, before Olivia once again started with a question;

"What was her name?"

* * *

_Cold._

That was, unfortunately, the only coherent thought running through Marcus's head for nearly five minutes.

A soft hand brushed through his hair, barely calloused fingertips trailing down his forehead.

_Someone's touching me…_

The fingertips dipped and smoothed out the lines his face made as it scrunched up in sleepy thought.

" - "

_They're talking…_

"-cus…"

_To me? _

"—arcus, –ake –p"

_Who?_

"Marcus, wake up… c'mon. You've got to help me…"

Sleep crusted eyes blinked wearily open, and the boy found that his other senses came rushing back.

His head was pillowed on something soft, and warmer than the rest of the room. His body felt heavy due to the thick blanket draped over him, and slowly – very slowly – his eyes paned away from the rice-paper wall dividers, and the Spartan ascetics of the room, to rest on the figure to his direct right.

Large brown eyes stared down at him as a grin blossomed across the young face.

The boy felt his face heat up as he realized that his head was pillowed in his rival's lap.

He bolted to the other side of the room, and blinked several times in confusion as he took in Kiri's appearance

"Are you- Why are you wearing a kimono?"

The young Namigaii was wearing a thick winter kimono, the heavy cloth a light burgundy with a silver pattern, and a trim of black fur rested around her neck. Leather boots adorned her feet, little tufts of the same fur were sprouting around her sock covered shin.

Kiri scowled as she slowly got her feet.

She shook one hanging sleeve until it fell over her hand properly once more.

"It's not my fault. There's…" she gave a drawn out sigh. "There is this old man who owns the complex we're in. He's really sweet… and is letting us stay here. He gave me the clothes because his… daughter? Grew out of them years ago, and he kept them for his granddaughter I think. But he gave us the clothes because its below zero outside and even the fires won't keep us warm in our normal clothing…"

Marcus looked incredulous

"But it's in the middle of July!"

Kiri shot him a bland look,

"Marcus I think we're somewhere near Mt. Silver."

The boy stuttered plainly at that simple geography fact.

"But- but that's all the way back in Kanto/Johto! We were in Hoenn a—"

He paused and his face furrowed again.

"How long have I been asleep?"

Kiri smiled and shook her head.

"Not that long. You were out for, maybe three hours after I woke up?"

Again there was a lapse in the conversation. The ten year old's grey eyes unfortunately continued to stray towards Kiri every time he moved them to a separate corner of the room. A shiver wracked his body, and now he stared mournfully and the thick blanket pooling to the left of Kiri's booted feet.

"Oh! You've gotta be cold. Hang on!"

Kiri bustled somewhat awkwardly over to a small table on the west side of the room. She was forced to pause ever few steps to adjust the closely wrapped kimono before she finally scowled once more and undid the lower wrapping, letting it fall free and flow heavily around her form.

She eventually reached a bundle of clothes and turned and launched the tied cloth at her shivering friend.

Marcus caught the bundle with ease in his left hand a looked shocked as a pair of boots thudded into his right shoulder and forehead.

He scowled as Kiri fled towards the door. She paused, seeing his scowl and grinned at him.

"What? I'm not about to watch you change!"

She giggled at his now shocked expression and fled the room to let him dress.

* * *

Akumu sighed happily as she sipped at her rapidly cooling tea. The Master always had her favorite blend. She gave a genuine grin into her cup and snuggled deeper into her black and purple battle top. It had been washed since its last use and it felt good to be back into the garb she had been raised in.

She currently sat a room away from where Kiri was waiting. From her aptly chosen spot against a fire-warmed **stone** wall, she could see the girl through the thinner rice paper.

She wondered absently how the girl would react when she realized that she was wearing her "kidnapper"s old clothing.

The mere thought made her grin again. The fact that The Master had supported her bringing the two younglings here was even better – it had been a great risk, but Akumu had been through and the little ones had passed out within minutes of taking off.

She nodded to herself, sure of her actions now as she recalled the words The Master had spoken to her,

"_War is not for younglings, aiko__. You did right in brining them here." __1_

She sipped at her tea again.

They were safe, the tea was good, her job was nearly done, and The Master was pleased with her on all accounts.

It was turning out to be an excellent year.

* * *

Silence filled the small closet once more.

Olivia cleared her throat ready to move the conversation onwards when Alexza started to speak.

"Claire. Her name was Claire, and she was a year younger than me."

Olivia's eyes softened and she settled in to listen as Alexza started into recalling every detail she could of her now missing sister. The tears leaking down her face now healing rather than harmful.

* * *

"What did you hear him say, _exactly_ Kiri?"

Marcus and Kiri were now sitting in the room in front of the one Marcus had woken up in, as the front room had a roaring fire that the two could sit in front of.

"I'm not sure… It was in a different language!"

Marcus sighed, resting his hands on his legs.

He had changed into the offered clothing that, while defiantly in an ancient style, was admittedly much warmer than his original outfit.

His baggy black hakama pants wrapped up to about his midriff, and while he had elected to keep his long sleeve shirt on, he wore the heavy, typically chest baring, outer robe as a jacket and left the sash undone.

Though he couldn't ignore the small, crimson and periwinkle threads that lined and formed strange kanji and figures on the inside of the large robe. Just as he couldn't ignore the fact that Kiri was covered in his family colors.

Someone either knew them too well, or had taken one look at their usual outfits and simply _known_.

He wasn't sure which option scared him more.

"Well, just try. This place is kind of eerie – and last we knew that crazy-" he paused for a moment remembering how the woman's eyes had cleared to sharp clarity as she had rescued them from his—from the boss.

"-that woman had us."

_Well, _that_ certainly got her attention._

"…"

Kiri paused and put a hand to her chin as she took a moment to think.

"I think it was," the foreign word rolled oddly off her tongue, " Toe-something – Totei?" 2

Marcus paused and wracked his brains on the language lessons he now regretted zoning out during.

"I'm… I'm not sure. Sorry."

Kiri looked at him and shrugged.

"I don't think he means us any harm – though I could do with something to eat."

"And Tha's my cue younglings!"

The two stared in shock as a woman in fitting black pants and a battle kimono entered the room carrying a tray of hot food and tea.

Her purple hair was down and fell well past her waist, purple bangs flitting lightly over her amber eyes.

"A- Akumu?"

* * *

Alexza and Olivia sat and at breakfast with Zaku and Zinita the next morning, of course it was nearly noon by now – but not quite as the only diner in Fortree city was still serving it's breakfast buffet.

_((They had given up after getting lost for a third time around 7 and had piled onto the large Charizard's back. Each promising not to mention the slight rule breaking and then sent him back through the machine once they landed in Fortree))_

Alexza's mood had improved vastly after finally being able to talk to someone about her _'ambitious and foolish'_ late sister.

Olivia's mood was great improved due to her friends snapping back into their chaotic version of normalcy. And if there was an 'all you can eat pancake line'– well that was just even better wasn't it?

"So," Olivia started after swallowing down a mouthful of pancake goodness.

"We've made it to Fortree city in one piece – AND"

She said, stopping both of Alexza and Zaku's sarcastic comments,

"You have a gym to challenge."

Olivia grinned, enjoying the way Alexza's eyes lit up at the prospect of the challenge. Unfortunately she had a favor to ask.

"But before you do, could you help me out? I need a good machine system to get some of my aid work done!"

_Which does technically includes a monitoring system that stretches all the way across to Johto…_

Alexza blinked before giving Olivia a small smile.

"I'm sure we'll be able to find one around here."

"Cool. So, what's your plan for this gym?"

Alexza paused and fiddled with her necklace for a moment.

"I'm considering just using Static. He has type advantage and he's fought a flying type gym with me before, so he has the experience. But the others are all going to work with me today with some clay birds and targets in the trees, so they can get used to shooting at flying opponents as well."

Everyone grinned, yeah – it was a much better day.

* * *

1 Aiko: (noun) Japanese for "beloved dear child". Sorry for those who thought this was Akumu's real name.

12 Totei: (noun) Japanese for "apprentice".

**AN: Ok, so my special Christmas Chapter was a dud. And I'm sorry but it just didn't turn out right – AND the computor decided to crash on it three times. Clearly it was not meant to be. So instead I gift to you an excerpt from the ending few chapters… which are (shockingly) coming up really soon!**

_**X. . . . ENDING EXCERPT . . . .X**_

She looked down the path that her target had raced down. Alexza turned, torn between helping her friend and the man she had dedicated her short life to hunting.

Kassy tossed Alexza grin over her shoulder as her experienced Pokémon simply decimated the mass of the grunts in front of her.

"Go ahead kiddo, I've got it under control back here."

Alexza paused, eyeing the path again.

"But there are so many… and more are coming –"

"Pfft! Don't worry about me! These guys are nothing! Just trash taken up space and our time! Go get him Alexza! Leave these idiots to me!"

"Hey!" one insulted grunt shouted, "Don't talk about us like we're not here!"

The older girl frowned at the rude man before ordering her Shiftry to blow him into the ocean he was desperately trying to expand.

"Shut up you worthless zealot… Oh! Alexza!"

Alexza paused, half way down the path, Kassy barely insight.

"What?"

"You're not allowed to fight with the one called 'Blaze'! Ya hear me? Don't go near him! He's…"

Kassy paused remembering the dark smile that crossed the man's face as he grinned to his suppliers.

"_This'll end that little bitch right from the start. I'll take down the biggest annoyance Team Magma has – and then I'll make __**him **__proud__**.**_"

"He's all mine! You got that? The black haired crazy dude is mine!"

Alexza sent a grin back to her along with a thumbs-up before running furiously up the dirt road.

Kassy ducked as a fist sailed past her face and threw another body off the cliff into the water.

"_Good luck kiddo…"_


	22. Mayday!

Alexza sighed as she walked through the doors of the gym, Static sitting gently behind her as she stood with her hand on her hips – looking up and the three huge walls directly separating her from Winona, the flying type mistress.

Static looked up at her, golden eyes flat with annoyance. The message in those eyes was painfully clear.

"Yeah, Stats, I think she knew we were coming too."

The fact that the upper layer of plaster on the towering three walls looked all but half-dry didn't help the gym leaders case in this matter at all.

So, with resigned expectations Alexza strode forward towards one of the many turn-gates that the gym was filled with and eyed the trainers she could _plainly see_ nervously lying in wait for her.

Determined to, as it appeared she (for once) couldn't use her usual brand of 'improvisation', take on this gym in the 'proper' manner.

* * *

"What do you _mean _she's not going to battle me? I can see her standing right over there!"

Alexza barked at the three, admittedly courageous, gym trainers.

"Sh-she said you're to wait until tomorrow when her second comes back…"

"_**What?"**_

The blonde was outraged. Not only was it a great breach of conduct for a gym leader, _who was in optimum health and currently __**in the gym**_, to demand a challenger face their second in their stead – but it was also an insult of the highest offence.

Simply put, Winona was saying (with no punches pulled) that Alexza was not worth her time nor was she on Winona's level for the woman to even bother facing her. Add in the fact that she was demanding that Alexza _wait_ for her second to have a full day to prepare was yet _another_ insult.

Static, who had already been to the Pokémon center for a quick heal in anticipation of the _real_ gym match, growled. While he certainly didn't understand exactly what these humans were trying to push, he could _smell_ their bullshit a mile away – and the unhidden stench of their fear was mugging up the air in the gym.

While the insults given were lost on the blue lion, his mistress's anger was not. And so Static carefully reached out, pulling ropes of invisible (at least to the humans) electricity from the gyms large side lamps to crackle between his fur – intentionally using the move 'charge' to frighten the humans upsetting his mistress.

* * *

Will didn't consider himself to be the intimidated type, he found his place in this gym's structure to be just under Jared – Winona's second. A nice spot in the general hierarchy of the gyms, especially considering Winona's responsibility as the supervisor of the Hoenn gyms, not too high up as to be responsible for any major mishaps, but comfortably respected.

However, between the growling electric type near his shins (which looked for all the world like it was about to forget itself and _attack them_) and the obviously PO-ed blonde that was jamming a sharp fingernail into his chest every other word, Will felt himself start to sweat and had to consciously fight the urge to raise a white flag and retreat.

"Look, miss, I'm sure Winona has a rea—"

"Don't pull that _shit_ on me! You know_ exactly_ what she's doing!"

Will scowled as the blonde cut him off, though he was slightly curious as to how _she_ knew of his position. As though sensing his question the girl scoffed and rolled her glaring green eyes at him.

"You've easily got the best set of Pokémon in this gym. Considering that Winona is claiming that her second is out now, and I haven't fought her, your team is clearly the superior one in here. "

Will looked at the picnicker and camper flanking him. While they had only one Pokémon each, and both liked and respected him, there was no reason for him to not defend them.

"Now wait a second, their Pokémon are just as good as-"

A loud scoff cut him off for a second time.

"Listen, you've got a Wingull, a Swellow, and a Pelipper. In a flying type gym – with only the leader and second excluded, you're clearly in a position of power or experience to have two fully evolved Pokémon."

Alright so maybe the girl wasn't as green as her height suggested. She defiantly knew a gym structure well enough to regulate it back without being insulting.

_And who the hell knew someone so short could be so intimidating?_

Will sighed before waving Ashley and Terrell away. They weren't going to be any help – it didn't look like they could stop the little spark shooter anyways.

"Fine. I know what she's doing, I don't know _why_ she's doing it… just like I didn't know why she had those walls added on to,"

_It just looked like a way for our loosing or winning trainers to hurt themselves after meeting Winona…_

"But now I'm getting the feeling it was a barrier against _you._ So you'll have to understand me as I ask – _Who the hell are you, and what the hell did you do?"_

The girl sighed and visibly deflated.

"My name is Alexza, and I'm pretty well known for skipping the gym trainers and slugging my way up to the leaders by dodging their gym traps all together."

There was a pause as Will felt a grin stretch across his face, for such a scary battler she sure sounded like a fun kid-

"And I also know that this gym sided with Team Magma in the First Confrontation."

Will smile didn't fall, it _plummeted _off of his face. He didn't bother to contain the wince that wracked his form. He had been around when the gym sided against Team Aqua, Winona joining and actively fighting **for** Team Magma had ended up being a huge setback for the League. And the disaster they had caused would have been catastrophic if the whole team hadn't gone silent when they did.

Though he had never found out _why_ Team Magma suddenly packed up and vanished, he'd heard the rumors – and now he had a pretty decent idea that he might be looking at the reason why.

"Oh."

Comprehension dawned on his face and he saw even more tension leak out of the slight form in front of him.

"You must be Claire then."

He saw green eyes narrow and then his world went dark.

* * *

Alexza shook out her hand, flexing out the kinks that socking the boy had given her.

_I've had just about enough of this place!_

She stepped over the boy's prone form, not bothering to reprimand Static when he purposefully stepped _on_ the unconscious male, and kicked the last gate open.

By this point she was enjoying the grimace that was etched onto the leaders face.

"Look. I don't know _why_ you think you're allowed to do this, but I will have you know that you've been accused of violating several-"

"No one's accused me, Winona. I've personally talked with every gym leader I've ever battled. I've never had any complaints about my approach."

_I'm not counting Norman. That wasn't __**entirely **__my fault…_

"Until now." She leveled a glare she usually kept in reserve up to the woman's face.

"Heck, _Flannery _even _praised_ me on it." Another wince. _Good, she deserves this._

"Which makes me wonder why _you're_ acting this way. I'm not **stupid**, Winona. I know when I'm being insulted!"

The purple haired woman opened her mouth to defend herself, but Alexza plowed on.

"This isn't supposed to be how a gym _works._ Ganging up on challengers with large numbers, the leader hiding in the back – giving a _s_econd _**two days**_ to nose about a challenger's life!"

Winona was the supervisor of the Hoenn gyms for a multitude of reasons, one of them being that she had an excellent poker face – but even she had lost some control after the barrage of (unfortunately true) accusations. Enough of her shock had shone through because a dangerous smirk stretched across Alexza's face.

"Yes, I found him sneaking about! Jared might be a good battler – but subtle and sneaky he is _not_. I found him in my room going through my pack after getting back from lunch yesterday!"

"This all feels more like something a _Magma Admin_ would do rather than a G_ym Leader_."

The last sentence was nearly lost in the growling snarl that broke free from Alexza's chest.

Winona's lavender eyes flashed warningly before she gritted out;

"Fine then. You want to battle little girl? Fine we'll battle. I'll even do it by the book if you're so frightened!

* * *

Winona threw her long lavender hair over her shoulder, this little brat thought she could storm through _her_ gym, disrespect the rules _she_ had helped put into place, and accuse her of criminal behavior? Oh she was going to _enjoy_ putting this one into her place.

"I am Winona. I am the Leader of the Fortree Pokémon Gym. I have become one with Bird Pokémon and have soared the skies... However grueling the battle, we have triumphed with grace... Witness the elegant choreography of Bird Pokémon and I!"

"Let's go, Tropius!"

She sent a beautiful smile as she rendered the menacing electric Pokémon useless. After all, grass negates electricity.

Her smile grew as she saw the blonde's hackles rise as her brain kicked into gear.

However, her confidence wavered as the girl threw out a pokeball. But she nearly began to laugh as she saw a peppy marshtomp appear.

"Ground _and_ water? You must not like that little mudfish, to send it up against a grass type!"

But the girl only smiled, calmly ordering the overly cheerful mixed type to use Foresight as Winona's Tropius set up her Solar Beam attack by using Sunny Day – which boosted Tropius's speed as well.

"Tropius, end this farce with Solar Beam!"

The beam still had a few seconds of build up, even with the move eliminating the two turn cost of the attack.

"Guardian – Ice Beam now!"

This time Winona didn't bother to hide her shock – _how did that Marshtomp learn an ice type attack?_

But it was too late, the beams had connected, exploded, and black smoke had filled the gym – Winona panicked slightly as she noticed that some of the heavy smoke was clinging to the windows that had been letting in the sunlight.

"Ice beam!"

"Tropius! Aerial Ace, up and out!"

A harsh cold beam shot past her shoulder, freezing a small section of her hair, and shattered against the wall.

The lavender haired gym leader brought a hand up to brush the ice off, only to start a little in shock when the frozen section of her hair simply shattered into ice shards on contact.

_Shit. This isn't good._ _Girl's further gone than I thought if she's trained a move up to this point – _and stopped cold, realizing that her challenger must have used TM 13 to teach her _part water type_ the ice move.

Unfortunately a trainer teaching a Pokémon a move with type advantage over a gym she was facing _wasn't_ a charge she could level against the girl.

"Ice beam! Once more Guardian!"

"Aerial Ac-"

Her tropius gave a sad cry as it's wings froze mid attack – sending the large Pokémon hurtling back to the ground.

Winona didn't even bother to check – between the super effective move and the crash into the ground… she knew her Pokémon's limits.

"Good work Tropius. Pelipper, swamp the little mudbug!"

The water bird Pokémon appeared and let out a menacing… well Alexza wasn't quite sure _what_ sound the bird made. If birds could growl then that would be what she would have labeled it.

The bird "growled" at Guardian and promptly attacked with an Aerial Ace that sent Guardian sprawling across the gym, and then struck him again with the same move – sending the poor Pokémon into the air.

"Guardian! Quick, hit it with Ice Beam!"

Winona smirked, the Pokémon was more than 10ft up in the air, it was out of its element. And while she did give the little critter credit for its attempt, it was simply out of its league.

* * *

Alexza watched, with mixed pride and horror as her Pokémon turned to face the still hovering Pelipper and charged up and Ice Beam – the horror kicked in as she watched the Pelipper shoot off a supersonic, and _vanish_ only to reappear, flying in full Aerial Ace attack, from _behind_ Guardian.

"_**Guardian!"**_

Alexza watched as her Pokémon was struck back down into the earth. Wincing as she realized this was Winona's version of retribution for her Tropius.

She recalled the Pokémon, eyes narrowing back into a glare as the Pelipper cut through the air where her KO-ed Pokémon had been a few seconds before.

_Beating a Pokémon when it's clearly down. Why am I surprised?_

She scowled, not liking the fact that her Pokémon had been so obviously outclassed, but she had to admit – she had a clear type advantage now.

"Static, discharge."

Electricity filled the gym as the Luxio's growing cry rang out.

* * *

Olivia sighed as she saw the roof of the gym light up from where she sitting.

True to the girl's thoughts the Pokémon center had several high-tech laptops that the Weather lab techs had donated for the region's Professor to use. She was currently resting on one of the many balconies – a small plate of food half finished next to her as she continued her hack-err-work. She paused again as the gym lit up three more times.

_Looks like Alexza lost her temper. _

She paused for a moment, fingertips resting on the black keyboard. Blinking as the sharp sound of shattering glass met her ears.

_Though maybe not… That one file on the First Confrontation did mention Winona playing a big role. Hmm…_

Olivia grinned, she needed something to distract her from the total lack of evidence she had found.

Gathering dirt on one of the most uptight woman in the Hoenn league?

_Sounds like fun._

* * *

Winona stared in disbelief, her gaze moving between the jagged hole in her click-proof roof back to the smug… lion thing, in front of her, back to the hole in her _explosion proof_ glass roof.

The fact that the last four attacks had taken out Pelipper, Swablu, Skarmory, and Altaria – Altaria going down with the attack that had _broken through her roof_ – was unbelievable in itself.

"What the hell was _that_?"

The blonde just gave a small smile, though her glare stayed in place. She held up two fingers,

"No. Limiters."

Winona blinked, limiters hadn't been used for awhile – not unless a trainer was bringing a Pokémon over from another Challenge to…

She paused, looked at the girl standing confidently before her, and re-evaluated.

_Alright. She's a brat – but based off the fact that she knew to __**look**__ for the limiters to begin with hints at her having gone through at least two leagues…_

The brat walked up to her and stared at her, the glare absent for now.

"What."

The little menacing grin came back,

"I'd like my badge now, _S__upervisor._"

* * *

Olivia stared in amazement at the page of facts she had narrowed her research down into.

How the hell was Winona still in power? Why wasn't she in _jail_ for that matter!

The shear number of accusations and _factual evidence_ scattered through the five systems Olivia had hacked into was amazing.

It was enough to get a Champion impeached – and it was move Olivia was considering.

Because there really was only one person who could have covered this all up – and he had lost power shortly after the First Confrontation. But he was still in the system –_ somehow._

The girl's pink eyes were drawn the lower left hand corner of her screen as her previous search began to go insane – the bar flashing red and green at her until it was clicked.

The maps and radio waves flipped across the screen until a scrawled text began to unravel itself.

The message left Olivia's throat dry, as moisture pooled into her eyes.

"_**No…"**_

* * *

Alexza jumped down from the last barrier, scowling as a piece of still drying plaster clung to her sneaker.

She walked out of the gym and up into the tree house they were staying in.

"Hey! Olivia! I'm back!"

Alexza's brow furrowed as she noticed the lack of noise. Her eyes drifted over the main room until it fell on the sticky note attached to the large Pokémon Storage Unit.

"_Dear Alexza,_

_Hey! Congratulations on beating the gym! Zinita and I are further in town with some kids we met today. We're practicing our battling and their going to show us around.  
See you for dinner!_

_Zaku & Zinita"_

_Well, that takes out two of three…_

Static's ears perked as he picked up on a muted sound. He tugged gently on Alexza's jeans before silently slipping out onto the 'empty' porch.

Alexza frowned and followed after – her frown growing deeper as she saw Static gently nudge her shaking friend.

Olivia was curled up next to her laptop, head hidden and eyes shaded by her long hair.

"Olivia…?"

Alexza crouched down, unsure of how to act – but more than willing to lend a hand to her friend. Only to leap back in shock when Olivia's smiling, tear streaked face met hers.

The purple haired aide grinned and wiped at her tears, and Alexza realized that the soft choking noises were tear filled _laughter_.

"Is… is something funny?"

Olivia just shook her head and grinned before looking at her awkward friend through her bangs.

"_**She's alive!"**_

* * *

AN: …okay. I need to work on this. My story has taken a bad habit of running away with me. I wasn't going to write this gym match out. It was supposed to be

"Alexza walked into the gym" and then switch to Akumu… but then I (in my slight OCD) went to double check the name of the Fortree leader – which lead me to research her team… which ended in me finding out that she _supported Team Magma _in the Pokemon manga. And I couldn't leave that alone. Because I also found out a few other things (one of which was that she's a supervisor of the Hoenn gyms, like Erica in Kanto.) and the other helped decide a few key points that I was floundering with.

This isn't action filled – but like I said that last preview was (is) a section of an unwritten chapter. That's a take from (I've decided) _**the second to last chapter**_.

I hope you guys didn't hate this chapter – and I hope Olivia threw you for a loop.

See you soon!

-Claire

P.S. Sorry for any mistakes, I'm sleep deprived due to some one threatening to seriously hurt my dogs -as such I haven't been sleeping much as I'm expecting some one to break into our gate and take (or kill) my two puppies. Every time they bark outside I get nervous... resulting in very little sleep for me.  
_((I'm not being silly, the person threating my dogs is communicating with a man from Animal Control, who tried to have my mother arrested after we caught him reaching for our dogs through our gate at night. For the third time. My mother threatend to shoot him and he took her to court. We won the case. A week later we saw his car down the street the morning we left to buy groceries... we came home to our gate broken and our four year old Beagle missing.))_


	23. What a Long Strange Trip it's been

Alexza sighed as she twirled her straw around in her fruity drink, a combination of berries that had she had forgotten as soon as she had put them in, and stared out the window mindlessly watching Zaku battle with his new friend.

She'd known Winona had had a hand in Team Magma's affairs, she knew the woman had led an attack on the southern end of Hoenn, one that had wiped a city off the map and was just now repopulating under the name of Twinleaf town, but the true effect of the chaos she had caused was just now starting to reach her.

The twelve year old pulled a face as a piece of a Cheri berry made it's way up the straw, she had just started to scrape her tongue with her teeth, in a truly futile effort the get the spicy heat off of her burning tongue, when Olivia bounded into the house quickly followed by Zinita and the sister to the child Zaku was battling.

Olivia took one look at Alexza and started to rock with laughter.

"Oh thut up! You thuda told me abouth that theri berry!"

Sadly all that did was actually cause Olivia to fall to the floor and for Zinita to start giggling.

"Sorry 'lexza, but it was the us or the fruit! And we really didn't wanna get between you and the kitchen appliances."

It was apparent that Alexza was going to have to work on her glare – as Zinita simply smiled at her before moving to put away some of the groceries they had bought away in the fridge.

The young girl stuck to Zinita's side, watching to two strange older children out the corner of her eye with wary fear.

Alexza bared her teeth and made a snapping motion with her jaw, barley containing her laughter as the little girl's eyes widened and she tripped over her own feet in an attempt to hide behind the kitchen island.

Olivia gave her an odd look before pulling herself up off the floor and onto the bench next to Alexza, her good mood practically radiating outwards.

Alexza rolled her eyes, as she saw Olivia's grin.

For the past three hours, once the tears had dried and Alexza had pried a suddenly huggy Olivia off of her person, the purple haired pre-teen had been smiling, laughing, and mouthing the words _'she's alive'_ to herself nonstop.

The most annoying thing about it, other than the obnoxiously cheerful attitude, was that she _would not explain herself._

And nothing bothered Alexza like not knowing.

She sighed as she stood up, slinking out the other side of the bench away from Olivia who took the chance to sprawl along the cushioned length, and made her way to the kitchen island.

She nearly choked on her repressed laughter as the little girl gabbed Zinita's hand and yanked her out the door as Alexza came within two feet of the pair. Alexza sighed, took her first look down into the cup she had been drinking out of, wrinkled her nose at the color and chucked the concoction down the sink.

"So," Olivia drawled, "What now?"

A brown head appeared through the window to Olivia's immediate left, (aka directly above her head at that moment).

"We go home!"

Olivia shrieked and flailed as she toppled off of the bench.

"ZAKU!"

"Eep!"

Alexza shook her head as the two tore out the door. But the boy was right.

She walked over and picked up her bag.

"Next stop, Lillycove city."

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The two twelve year olds hung back awkwardly as the Shironi children ran into their mother's arms.

The purpelette looked at the blonde.

"So…"

She glanced between Alexza's surprisingly guilty expression and the titanium melting glare that Mrs. Shironi was shooting the blonde in between cooing over her children.

"What, exactly, did you do earn their mother's wrath?"

Alexza grimaced,

"I helped them run away from home."

Olivia remained serious and incredulous for a whole twenty seconds, then;

"Oh, now this I have got to hear!"

However, before Alexza could change the subject, the blonde was tackled around the waist by a green blur.

"Alexza! 'Via! Momma's taking us all out to a Contest! And guess what? They saved my place! I get to compete in the Hyper Rank Contest!"

Alexza sighed as she glanced down at the excited ten year old. It looked like they'd be spending the night.

Contests took _forever._

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_

Alexza had to choke down a giggle at the look on Olivia's face.

"That… _That's_ the Pokémon you're entering into the _Beauty Contest_?"

She almost lost it when Zinita pulled out her trade mark 'I'm insulted look', the same one she wore every time she had to explain Scylla, a particularly ugly Feebas, to someone.

Alexza would know, she'd seen that look at least ten times - and she'd only seen Zinita in a contest _twice_.

"Don't you judge Scylla! She might not look like it, but she's _amazing_! And we're close to reaching our goal, isn't that right girl?"

The youngest trainer cast a smile to her happily swimming Pokémon, who took the chance to show off and flip three times in the air before returning to the fountain's water with a gentle 'splash'.

The graceful effect was ruined when the small, ugly, fish returned to the surface and shot a jet of water at Olivia's head, cleanly knocking the older girl off of the bench.

"HEY!"

This time, Alexza couldn't hold back her laughter.

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A few hours, and a very interesting trip to the Pokémon Center to procure a small fish tank, later found Alexza and Olivia growing bored after watching Zinita cream several adult trainers at some form of Berry Game.

The preteens realized, of course, that the 'game' created pokeblocks, after all both knew how much their Pokémon loved the concoctions – but, _really_, it was only fun if you were the one _making_ the darn things.

Though, both had to admit that Zinita was down right amazing at creating them.

However, she _had_ managed to wipe out both her own, and four other trainer's, stocks of 'Dry' berries.

But the nice pile of high-quality blue pokeblocks next to Zinita was nothing to scoff at… and fortunately it looked as though the girl was done.

Alexza elbowed Olivia gently to get the dozing aide's attention. This was really the only interesting part of the whole affair, and the reason why Alexza hadn't skipped out to go train her Pokémon.

The two watched as Zinita lined up the pokeblocks around Scylla's tank, watching as the fish swam around and 'chose' certain pokeblocks and, quite hysterically, turned it's fishy-lips up at others.

When all was said and done, and Olivia had calmed down after watching the ugly Pokémon try to pull off a 'snooty' look, Zinita placed the rejected pokeblocks back into her Pokeblock case and fed the chosen few one by one to her feebas.

Each time the Pokémon consumed a pokeblock, it's scales took on a glossier sheen, and lost their spotty look.

Holding the last, and bluest, pokeblock reverently in her hand Zinita carefully fed Scylla one last time, praying softly under her breath as she did so.

For a few moments, nothing happened. And then a blinding light flared up from the tank and with the sound of shattering glass a new Pokémon's cry rang through the Contest hall.

Scylla had finally evolved.

Alexza was the first to raise her pokedex to the oarfish like Pokémon.

"This Tender Pokémon called a Milotic is the evolved form of Feebas. It is said to be the most beautiful of all Pokémon and is quite skilled in battle (Bulbapedia).

Name: Scylla  
Trainer: Zinita Vatonage Shironi  
Gender: Female  
Species: Milotic  
Type: Water  
*Ice Beam was just learned."

Alexza lowered her pokedex in time to see Zinita carefully placing a now grey TM back into her violet bag.

She smiled as she realized now why the girl had asked to go shopping earlier that day.

_'I guess she had this all planned out...'_

"Well, it looks like you're ready for your contest now Zinita."

The grin that the younger trainer shot back at Alexza was blinding.

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"You're going to be fine Zinita."

Nervous purple eyes stared up into Alexza's as the blonde straightened the small teal bow in the younger girl's hair.

"You've been working with Scylla for nearly a year now, evolved or un-evolved she's the same pokemon you love and trust. Just make sure to remember how much larger her form is, and how much longer her new reach is!"

Zinita smiled only a little, Alexza was _decent_ when it came to Contest Battles – after being a trainer for two years the blonde know what happened when certain moves mixed. Then there was the fact that her older friend also knew enough about pokemon to determine how to undermine most of the competition. In her own, wholly good natured way of trying to cheer Zinita up that is… at least Zinita hoped so. Amy had looked a little singed after their fight…

But this wasn't going to _be_ a battle, and just like the last time her contest wasn't centered on a fight, Alexza was no help at all.

Zinita frowned as Alexza made her stand and fixed her costume one last time. For someone vehemently against wearing a dress herself, Alexza sure knew how keep one in order.

The young girl sighed and looked at herself in the mirror. The costume had been in the works for years, ever since she had rescued Scylla from the fish-mart in fact!

Zinita bit her lower lip and looked herself over one more time, wishing, for a moment, that her mother wasn't quiet so involved in the contest hall as she was...

Zinita shook her head to clear away such gloomy and bad natured thoughts, and gave Alexza a grin and a little wave as the older girl slipped out of the changing room. She watched the doorway for twenty seconds before allowing her face to fall as she turned to take in the final product.

Large, violet eyes stared back at her though the mirror. Her small, stick-thin form perfectly covered in her cute but refined costume. A small, tank-top strapped, flowing pink dress that stopped just above her knees in a kerchief cut. Red, pink, and navy blue ties of silk wrapped around her thin arms into the attached long sleeves that matched the dress in color and material. A small, blue and pink fin like fan rested unsurely in her left hand. Finally her legs were covered in a pair of tights, a black rimmed hexagonal pattern of blue and dark pink, mirrored like Scylla's scales.

It was perfect.

It really was.

So Zinita had no idea why she was crying.

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_Are you ready, my little flower? You know how it goes..._

_One for the money,_

_Two for the show,_

_Three to get ready,_

"And on four we go."

Zinita nodded to herself, swallowing past the nervous lump in her throat. She giggled a little when Scylla nuzzled her head into Zinita's hand.

She moved her hand down Scylla's smooth back, taking one deep breath before placing her forehead against her pokemon's.

"You ready Scylla?"

The answering trill was_ so_ different, but now Zinita was grinning.

Because it was also more perfect than she had ever imagined.

Their routine, which had managed to win them second, and even first, place time and time again, had always been told that they had been missing _something_.

They had run the entire thing through at _least_ three times.

It was _perfect_ – plenty of new wiggle room, and Scylla was just as good with her Ice Beam as she ever had been with Water Gun.

"We are going to _pwn_ this competition!"

And that was when the nervous lump in her throat dissolved into a spill of happy giggles at the use of one of Zaku's _many_ ridiculous slang terms.

Zinita took one more deep breath and stepped on stage.

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"**And on stage next for the Appeal Round is Lilycove's very own, Zinita Shironi!**"

Even from within the private box the crowd's roar was deafening.

Though, perhaps it was to be expected. After all, Lilycove had not had it's own Contest Champion since Mrs. Shironi herself won thirty years ago.

Alexza grinned, honestly excited to see what Zinita would surprise them with this show.

She and Zaku might stumble in on small peaks of Zinita's training, but in all honesty, Alexza had _never_ seen Pokemon moves used the way she had seen them here. She and Zaku had running games of 'who can identify the move' through whole contests and she wasn't about to lose again!

_'Here we go Zinita, Battle Dance!'_

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The small child and large Milotic shot out of the contestant's door, the little girl balancing precariously on the pokemon's back.

The long oarfish pokemon twirled its body around and around it's trainer, until a large waterspout began to form on center stage.

For a moment the small child simply hung suspended in the air, arms out, sleeves flapping in the contained breeze, the Milotic's eyes, which had been glowing an eerie bright blue, suddenly flared brighter as the little girl was raised up on a seemingly invisible platform.

As she was lifted higher, the waterspout was ripped apart by the wind it had generated. Level by level, water exploded outward in a glistening shower of droplets_._And the little girl simply continued to make her own very dangerous twirls as she danced around her small, square platform of Psychic energy.

As the last level burst apart from underneath her, Zinita Shironi raised one hand as her pokemon completed her last twirl – and every water droplet _stopped_.

For five seconds the stadium was filled with small, suspended drops of water arching out in a large ring formation around the pair. Then, the green haired child closed her fist and the water shot back to her pokemon, merging together to form thick streams of water that then parted and twisted and danced just like the trainer and pokemon had seconds earlier.

Just as the water started to settle into defined rings around her pokemon, the little girl took two small steps and leapt off of the hovering Light Screen.

With a flash the pokemon's eyes dimmed to normal as it stopped sustaining the psychic move, and just as the child completed her fourth downward twirl a jet of water shot away from the pokemon to end underneath her.

As stocking covered feet touched the top of the water spout the water rushed ahead and froze beneath her feet, allowing the small girl's weight and transferred momentum to carry her around the stadium on a growing slide of ice.

Finally the move carried her back to rest at her pokemon's side. She looked into the ground and out on the maze of ice and snow that now covered the field, before turning to her Milotic and nodding her head softly.

"Miii-lo-toooic"

The pokemon's song-like cry filled the air as it released a massive Hidden Power attack, shattering the ice in the stadium completely – leaving what remained to fall down in a harmless snow flurry on the audience.

A computerized 'Beep' sounded through the stadium signaling that the trainer's appeal time was up – and the crowd's cheers grew even louder as the child's score showed up on the screen.

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"A Ninety-Four! She _aced_ that!"

Olivia, Zaku, and Alexza traded high-fives as Mrs. Shironi clapped politely and made small talk with the other Contest Board members. Who, now that Alexza had stopped to look at them, were all trying to avoid making contact with the two preteens. One woman, with a Glameow in her purse, literally turned up her nose when Alexza knocked elbows with her while trying to get through the doorway before huffing and moving to the other side of the large suite.

"Young Zinita is showing great potential. I have no doubts that she will follow in your footsteps Maria."

Alexza frowned as Mrs. Shironi tittered happily before expertly moving the conversation towards the man's own children.

She really _hated_ that turn of phrase.

_'Showing potential'._

As though Zinita wasn't good enough for them yet!

Alexza knew that the young trainer worked harder than she admitted, and Alexza had watched Zinita train_ daily_ on their journey. Every rest, every break, even through their long walks between cities!

Zinita _always_ had her pokemon out, and they were _always_ working on _something_.

But Alexza didn't belong in this upper class social trap, she knew it, Zaku knew it, Mrs. Shironi knew it, and she'd eat her hat if it wasn't going to be on the minds (and in the gossip) of every pompous Contest Board member there.

'_Oh look, Maria's taking in _strays_ again.'_

So the blonde preteen simply gave a polite smile, batted her eyelashes innocently at the adults, and stomped back out onto the balcony before her growl of annoyance became audible.

She wasn't going to let these stupid adults ruin Zinita's contest, no way, no how.

Even if she had to "kidnap" the Shironi children a second time to do it.

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**"And now, its the Contest Battle we've been waiting for folks! The Final Match between Zinita Shironi of Lilycove and Amy Yumara from Slateport!"**

Zinita was still in her costume, more than ready to abandon the long sleeves if they began to get in her way.

Purple eyes narrowed in as an unusual feeling of dislike bubbled up in her gut.

Amy Yumara had been the only contestant to best Zinita through Hoenn – the two girls each entering enough contests on their own to make it here, but they had met four times and the score was stuck at 2:2.

_'Not this time Amy! We're taking this ribbon _home.'

Zinita curtsied cutely to the judges, the audience, and to Amy. Giving her rival a friendly little wave before pulling out Scylla's pokeball with a small flourish of her large sleeves.

She grinned as she felt Amy's glare burn into her. Good, she was already off balance.

_'Alright, maybe I _have_ been around Alexza for too long…'_

The small redhead glowered before mouthing to Zinita; _'Prepare to_ lose_ Shironi.'_

Openly she twirled for the audience before grinning and chanting out;

"Let's Dazzle them, Kakugai (1)!"

Amy threw her pokeball high into the air, the expensive seals snapping open and showering her pokemon in spray of petals and glitter.

Zinita sent a sickly-sweet smile back at the girl before calling out her own contest-call;

"Here we go! For the Win with Scylla!"

Zinita grinned as she gave her older brother a shout out and felt the nevers just dance away.

She didn't need expensive seals or old money to do what she was best at. All she needed was the pokemon at her side and a goal to chase after.

_'And today that goal is Hyper Rank Ribbon!'_

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The two young trainers huffed in gulps of air as the dust finally settled again.

Attack after attack. Dodge, dance, retaliate, miss! Critical Hit! Negate, attack, defend and start again.

Over and over, with moves like Moonlight, Synthesis, Recover, and Aqua Ring their Pokémon could go on for ages. But then that was why Zinita liked Contest Battles, unlike regular matches it was the Trainer's points on the line as opposed to their Pokémon's.

Zinita frowned and looked over at Amy's Bellossom. One of its flowers had been frozen off and the poor thing was bound to be dizzy after Scylla had spun the plant silly across the now icy floor. Purple eyes strayed to the remaining time and points left.

She was still slightly ahead but,

"Magical Leaf Storm!"

"Blizzard! And follow it up with Aqua Tail!"

The leaves, and the magic they were carrying, were frozen in the air as the rest of the howling gale launched icy debris at the frantically dodging Bellossom.

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Olivia frowned.

"I just don't get it. Milotic is a _water _type. Bellossom is a _grass_ type. Amy should have used Solarbeam and tried to KO Milotic. And clearly,"

Olivia paused to gesture wildly at the ice forming on her boot,

"Milotic knows ice-type moves strong enough to knock down that little flower-power-poof! So why haven't either of them _ended this yet?"_

Alexza sighed, happy that _someone_ agreed with her.

Zaku frowned too, pausing in his attempt to whack the ice off of his tennis shoes.

"I have no idea, a direct attack would probably cost them too many points to make it worth their while. They don't fight to _win_ exactly. They're kind of just trying to make the other look… stupid I guess."

Olivia and Alexza shared a look and shrugged.

"Good enough for me."

Alexza _still_ didn't get contest battles. They reminded her far too much of the beauty pageants Kimi had loved when they were children.

_'And I had to help "supervise". I have never seen so much hair pulling in my life'._

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_'Now!'_

The heavy-handed Aqua Tail smashed into the frozen plants, shattering them to small bits and releasing the trapped magic with a spine-chilling **_crack!_**

The backlash was unbelievable, and not at all what Zinita had been expecting.

The now dark purple magic twisted menacingly before racing back towards its original source – Kakugai.

Amy and her Bellossom stared with terrified eyes as the magic was snapped back at them, barreling into the Bellossom and her trainer with enough force to launch the two off of the small platform they had been battling on.

As Amy's points drained to nothing, Zinita, Scylla, and all five of the judges ran over to see how the two were faring.

"_AMY!"_

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Alexza took a deep breath of the salty harbor air before throwing her backpack onto the ship, before jumping into herself, and wrapping her arms around a hiding Zinita.

Amy and Kakugai were both in critical condition, each being taken to their respective hospitals and were under close watch.

Humans just weren't built to endure pokemon created attacks. It truly was unheard of for a trainer to come out unscathed after being attacked by a pokemon's special attack. Physical attacks could be dealt with, within reason of course. But pressurized water, fire, lightning, ice, _magic_? Not so much. We just cant withstand it.

And backlash magic from the move Magical Leaf combined with a Leaf Storm attack? Yeah. That definitely counted as _serious special damage. _

"It's not your fault."

Zinita seemed to shrink in on herself further, her small form almost squeezed beneath the outside seats on the speedboat.

"Zinita, _none of us_ expected for the moves to react that way! The magic trapped in the Magical Leafs should have faded away once the leaves were stopped! You had no way of knowing that Scylla was capable of _freezing magic_!"

Zinita gave a small hiccup before leaning on Alexza again.

No tears came this time, but the older trainer suspected that it had less to do with Zinita's acceptance and more to do with the fact that she had spent a few good hours crying with her mother already.

Still Alexza made the same hushing noises she did when Zaku had had that awful nightmare all those weeks ago. Gently rocking the younger girl from side to side with the ship until the choking hiccups slowed to a stop. Alexza slowly and carefully transferred Zinita up onto the benches and then onto her back.

"Oof! Alright, either you need to stop growing, or I need to get taller – 'cause the way things are going now I'm not gonna be able to do this for much longer!"

After tucking Zinita in within the Ship's protected cabin, Alexza walked back out on deck. The blonde trainer was able to take roughly two steps before she nearly collided with a curious Olivia.

"So… how _did_ you help them run away from home?"

Alexza sighed before turning and walking down the street. Taking care to not look back into the glare that Mrs. Shironi was sending her as her children once again chose to leave home to follow the blonde.

"You'll hear it all on the way to MossDeep."

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Riding in a boat was very different than riding a surfing Pokémon. And to those who were used to the latter, a boat was either a relaxing or frightening experience. For Alexza, it was, unfortunately, quiet frightening.

_'I don't like not being in control of where we're steering…'_

As she turned her gaze out to the churning blue sea, fingers idly moving agaisnt her pocket wishing she had Aurora with her, her ears caught the tail end of Olivia's conversation;

"So let me get this straight. You two," Olivia paused to gesture to Zaku and Zinita

"Got lost in Granite Cave, were terrorized by a group of Sableye, teleported silly by an Abra, literally crashed into Alexza who then drops her torch, and it takes nearly three days for all of you to make it out of there?"

She grins as the two children nod their heads.

"Remind me to never go spelunking with you lot!"

"Hey!"

Alexza grins as she looks out over the prow of the speedboat once again, a chuckle escaping her as she hears Zaku's embarrassed voice a few seconds later.

" …What's spelunking?"

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Alexza was the first off of the ship, grinning up into the noontime sunlight as her feet hit the wet, _but still solid_, ground of Mossdeep's shore.

"Trees… I never thought I'd be so glad to see trees!"

Alexza scowled as she heard her companions, and the ship's captain, begin to laugh at her unusual display of exuberance.

Frowning, she decided to do the mature thing. She straightened her bag, re-tied one soaked tennis shoe, cupped her hands, splashed the entire group with as much water as she could gather in one scoop… and took off towards the towering red roof she could see in the distance.

"HEY! ALEXZA, YOU LOON!"

there was a pause just as the blonde reached the top of the stairs,

"…Wait up!"

Alexza turned to look back, only to see Olivia running towards her with a borrowed bucket.

_'…time to go!'_

With another happy laugh to be back on solid ground, Alexza continued her mad dash towards the Pokémon center. Fully prepared to check out a room and make good use of wherever it's window might lead.

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Several minutes, and a meal bought by Alexza 'the-splasher', later found everyone sitting the in one of Mossdeep's few diners.

"So…" Olivia mused, chewing thoughtfully through her chicken, "You're going to be fighting a double battle against two psychic twins?"

Alexza frowned and put her own fried chicken down for a moment.

"I'm not sure how psychic the twins themselves are… but yes. It's definitely a psychic type gym."

"So… I guess you're just going in with 'bite', 'crunch', and hope they use dual-type Pokémon?"

Alexza scowled for a moment, unhappy with the most recent development.

"I could use Argent… But she really _is_ new."

Zinita frowned as well. While the Absol was beautiful and _faster_ than anything she had ever seen, even Zinita could tell that it had always been a wild Pokémon. And as strong as wild born pokemon tended to be, they had no concept of the planning and _grace_ trainer battles took.

"Against two psychic specialists? There's no chance that I'm going to sacrifice _any_ amount of experience for type-advantage. Especially not when there's the chance of them pulling what Ms. Sabrina does when Dark-types come into her gym… Semi-legal telekinesis and Confuse Rays until the Pokémon just... faint."

Alexza winced as she recalled the gym challenges she had been able to sneak in and watch as a child.

_'Maybe 'sneak' isn't the best word for it... _nothing_ gets past Sabrina._'

She couldn't recall the number of times she had been... 'plucked' out of her hiding spot as a child and suddenly teleported back into her room. But, as scary and ruthless as the gym leader was, she had never ratted Alexza out. And the gyms doors, and windows (_and airvents...)_ remained as unlocked and as easy to pick as ever.

Though, when the time had come for the two to battle for Alexza's sixth badge...

The blonde shivered. She would _never_ forget how her idol, at the time, had just smiled at her before, through, and even after the battle. *

"Alexza!"

The blonde's head snapped back up, realizing belatedly that she must have zoned out for too long.

Olivia gave her friend a long look before simply dipping her chicken in the honey-mustard and grinning.

"So… today then?"

Alexza shook her head. _She_ might remember how to battle a Psychic gym. But outside of Static none of the other's knew how to recognize a Special Defense Psychic from a Defensive Psychic.

"Not yet. I _might_ have to borrow Laya from you."

With that Alexza stood up and made her way out to the pokemon center.

She was going to have to bring in some more old friends to prepare for this one.

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Alexza blinked back tears as she quickly made her way back into the pokemon center to have her Hoenn Team healed.

She _hated_ seeing her pokemon suffer, but she knew it was really the only option available to her. Her funds weren't large enough for her to return to Lillycove and purchase enough Zinc to help her entire team.

So she had to resort to what had helped her defeat Sabrina – she had her psychic type pokemon use mild levels of Confusion, Psychic, and Extrasensory on the battlers of her team.

Each time the move was used, a little less damage was taken by most of her pokemon as they would figure out what to expect when it hit, how to dodge it, and how to recognize when it was about to be used.

Scree and Guardian had gotten the hang of it almost immediately.

Scree was fast enough to launch a few sonic booms at the attacking pokemon and stall or disrupt an attack entirely… and if that strategy failed then Scree's type left no advantage for the move to prey upon.

Guardian also had no type disadvantage to the moves and, underneath the playful exterior, was rather good at seeing through any illusions that the moves might have caused, letting the little mudfish jump right back onto his feet and launch a series of physical and special moves.

But Marik and Salazar were still having issues.

Salazar was just too slow to dodge the attacks, and his bulky form made stealth impossible. This meant that any physical attacks the shelgon made usually ended up with him flying through the air with the aid of telekinesis. (_Alexza was morbidly amused to note that her 'neon soccer-ball' comparison was only proven further with the _numerous_ times that Salazar ended up airborne.) _This also negated the chances of Salazar being able to use the move 'Crunch' - which would have done a huge amount of damage to any psychic type.

Marik was quick enough to get out of the way of something like a Focus Blast, Psywave, Hypnosis, and even Confuse Rays! But was almost always, if not every time, KOed by Psychic. The type advantage and way the move was used worked against the grass type in an unavoidable combination that left the grass type starter knocked out before every other member of Alexza's team.

Alexza was startled from her guilty thoughts by a hooked hand resting on her head. She looked up to see Houdini, her Alakazam, smiling gently down at her, the ends of his long mustaches tickling her shoulder blades. Houdini was quickly followed by Laya and Luna. The Umbreon and Espeon gently butting and rubbing their heads against Alexza's kneecaps in their cat-like way of giving comfort.

Alexza shook her head to remove the tears in her eyes before giving her older pokemon a small smile. Head held higher, she walked back into the illuminated pokemon center, ready to give her pokemon one more round of training before calling it a night.

They had a gym to battle tomorrow.

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The air that buffeted Alexza as the gym's doors opened was cool and dry, a wonderful respite from Mossdeep's typical sticky humidity.

Alexza blinked in surprise before taking in another breath.

_Huh. Tea, incense, and smoke. It smells like… home._

Alexza shook her head, fighting off the soft smile that had formed against her will.

_It's the only other psychic type gym in the world – of course it's going to be similar to home!_

_Get over it!_

…Still. It really _was_ uncannily similar to Saffron City's gym. Alexza eyed the warp panels and moving tiles, memories flooding back though to her.

_It couldn't hurt to go through like a normal person for once, could it?_

Alexza sighed before releasing Scree and Guardian.

"C'mon boys, let's go make the most of the 'scenic route'…"

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By the time Alexza reached the final warp pad she had already had to make two trips to the pokemon center for Marik and Salazar.

_'But they _need _this experience. Its something I can't teach them… they have to learn it on their own. They'll pull through when it counts. I trust them,'_

With another deep breath, Alexza stepped onto the last warp pad.

And was whisked away to the gym leader's room.

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"_This combination of ours…"_

_"Can you beat it?"_

Alexza gave a small shudder as the twins threw their pokeballs.

_'Oh, they're definitely psychics. They're giving me that same chill!'_

She glanced up to see a Claydol and Xatu staring at her from across the field. She winced and gave a small bow before throwing out Static and Guardian.

_'I can't afford to be distracted!'_

"Claydol use Earthquake!"

"Xatu, use psychic on the Marshtomp!"

_'Well they're not pulling any punches!'_

"Guardian! Give Static a launch NOW! Static! Hurry, use Discharge!"

Alexza winced as she saw Guardian take a full on hit from the Earthquake, but sighed in relief as she saw the haphazard electrical discharge knock the Xatu out of the air and onto the quaking earth below.

Wire-thin lighting bolts tore through the field and managed to hit the Claydol as well – luckily Alexza's pokemon had practiced this move, and the area underneath Static, and thusly Guardian, was left untouched.

She grinned as the male twin (2) growled as his pokemon hit the dust, and forced his twin's pokemon to stop it's move for fear of fainting it's partner.

Of course, while all of this was going on, Guardian wasn't just letting himself be thrown around.

"Guardian, use Water gun! Static, finish the Xatu off with Ice Fang!"

"Xatu use Sunny Day!"

_'Where are they going with that…'_

The psychic bird obliged it's trainer before fainting, intensifying the sunlight with its final move.

"Claydol use Psychic on the Marshtomp, now!"

'_Why would they focus on Guardian… after Static took down- !'_

"Static! Take it out with Crunch before they hit Guardian!"

The luxio made a desperate lunge for the large Claydol, it's teeth clamping down seconds after it started it's psychic assault on Guardian.

With a cry, both pokemon fainted.

Leaving Static, alone, to pant out his exhaustion on the field.

"You're not…"

"… Half bad. Let's see…"

"…if you can take on…"

"…THIS combination!"

"Solrock!"

"Lunatone!"

"**Time to battle!"**

The blonde challenger winced as the two half Rock types were sent out.

'_And _that's _why they left Static alone. He's not much use in this battle.'_

Alexza winced again, as her hand strayed to her belt.

'_That leaves Marik, Salazar, and Scree…'_

"Static, take one of them out with Crunch! Scree, let's go!"

The small Vibrava materialized and was forced to take to the air as a hypnosis ring and a strong jet of flames raced towards it.

"Viiiii!"

The small dragon narrowed it's eyes and proceeded to dive bomb the offending Solrock while Static latched onto the Lunatone's back and sank his fangs into stone-like hide.

"Lunatone!"

The crescent-moon shaped pokemon narrowed it's eye before glowing blue as it utilized it's telekinesis to launch Static off of it and into Scree, who had just finished countering a Flamethrower with Dragon breath, sending the two pokemon flying into the far wall. The power behind the telekinetic throw was powerful enough to collapse part of the wall and a large dust cloud formed as the two crashed.

"Scree! Static! Please get up!"

Alexza looked on worriedly as the dust cleared, her heart soared as Scree came barreling furiously out through the dust, latching onto the Lunatone with crunch before slamming it down into the still uneven earth.

Reluctantly, Alexza raised Static's pokeball and called him back. Of all her pokemon, he was the oldest. He wasn't knocked out very often anymore. Alexza rubbed small circles onto the quickball in her hand, before quickly returning him to her necklace.

"Battle Dance, Salazar!"

The heavy Shelgon appeared and simply head butted the oncoming Solrock, making the rock type pokemon spin like a top as Salazar began to charge him from different sides. Using all the speed his stubby little legs would give him to his advantage.

"That's it!"

"We've had enough playing around!"

"Lunatone!"

"Solrock!"

"**Psychic!"**

The two pokemon narrowed their eyes and glowed blue as they began to attack the other pokemon's minds.

"Scree interrupt them with Sonic Boom!"

The vibrava seemed to vanish for a moment before reappearing in front of the Lunatone attacking it.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, with a loud screeching noise, the Lunatone's eyes flashed back to normal and widened as it was shot backwards and _into _the wall behind Tate and Liza.

Tate's eyes widened as his pokemon flew past him.

"No!"

Liza narrowed her eyes, this was the second time this challenger had seriously hurt her twin's pokemon.

"Solrock! Solarbeam now!"

Alexza's eyes widened as she realized how Tate had set the field for his twin.

"Scree! Get out of - !"

She was cut off as the massive orange beam tore though the air towards Scree's defenseless back.

_'**No!'**_

A blinding light filled the small battle stadium before an explosion shook the room. Filling it with a dark, rolling smoke.

'_Scree… oh no.'_

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Alexza peered desperately into the smoke, looked for any sign of her Vibrava.

_'Arceus help me if they hurt him…'_

Her dangerous thoughts were stopped cold as a loud, low growl filled the stadium. Green eyes widened in surprise as the growl turned into a full out roar, and the smoke was beaten back by a sudden, powerful wind.

Flap, Flap, Flap.

'_No way…'_

Alexza _felt _her jaw drop and heard the twin's gasps of surprise as they too took in the amazing, impossible sight.

Standing over Scree protectively was what remained of Alexza's Shelgon.

The glowing-green shell was cracked and torn. Pumping powerfully from the large rip in it's back were two _massive_ orange wings, working to beat back the heavy smoke. A thick green tail, which looked ridiculous sprouting from the far-too-small in comparison shell, shook the ground as it thumped up and down in a triumphant beat.

Alexza stared in wonder as more cracks appeared around the concave zone where she could just make out her pokemon's still hidden eyes.

The red black eyes locked with hers before the eyes jumped once in the shadows, and a thick green horn burst through the bloated shell. The horn was retracted back in once, before being thrust up one last time as the last shell bits were burst to pieces.

And the massive shiny Salamence was free.

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The stillness that had overtaken pokemon and trainers alike was broken when Salazar gave another mighty roar. Alexza heard her pokedex going off in her pocket in a delayed reaction to the evolution energy in the air.

"Salamence, the Dragon Pokémon. Salamence is the fully evolved form of Bagon. Salamence are equipped with sharp teeth and massive claws, they weigh over 200 pounds, and have the fastest speed of all the Flying-type Pokémon."

"Lunatone, use Psychic quickly!"

"Solrock, double assult!"

"Scree! Intercept one! Salazar, knock 'em out of here!"

Another barrage of weakened sonic booms slowly began to break the concentration of the two psychic types. As soon as their assault weakened, Salazar growled and charged them. His head and faceplate-like markings glowing and sparking an eerie blue.

"Zen Headbutt…" Alexza whispered to herself, still in awe of Salazar.

_'How could such a massive dragon be the same, suicidal, little runt I picked up in that cave?'_

Another shower of dust filled the room, along with two identical sighs and red capture beams.

"That doesn't feel fair."

"But," and Liza paused to shoot her younger brother a look. He just sighed before sating;

"I guess it can't be helped. You've won..."

Liza rolled her eyes and smiled at Alexza, making her way to the center of the destroyed room to meet Alexza half way. The Mind Badge in her palm.

"So, in recognition, take this!"

Alexza grinned and shook the older twin's hand, calling back her two dragons in the same move.

"Thank you. That was… an amazing battle. If Salazar hadn't evolved then I don't think I would have won."

Liza smiled walked Alexza to the far corner of the room where the returning warp pad rested, surprisingly untouched by the raging chaos created in the battle.

"We saw you coming, and we saw you leaving with us. It caught us by surprise too!"

Alexza smiled, a little disturbed by the mention of their prior knowledge.

"Come on, why don't we all head down to the Pokemon Center for a bit, and then we can show you around Mossdeep! How does that sound?"

Alexza nodded and reached out to ruffle Tate's hair as she passed, only for the younger twin to smack her hand away in the air.

Tate stomped past, muttering something along the lines of;

"Stop _doing_ that!"

Alexza blinked in confusion, sure beyond belief that she had never met the small black haired boy before today.

'_I really don't like dealing with psychics.'_

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True to their word, the twins showed Alexza and her friends around Mossdeep.

From Shoal Cave, _"Those Spheal are so cute!"_

to the many kind residents of Mossdeep themselves,

_" 'I can't take this…' 'Oh it's no trouble at all!' 'No really, its-OW!' 'TAKE THE DARN ROCK ALREADY!' " (3)_

_"_And finally this is the Space Center!"

With a flourish and twirl Liza threw her arms wide in front of a strange looking building that seemed to have a large rocket propped up around the back of it.

"And _this_ is our famous Rocket Launching site, the Mossdeep Space Station!"

As Liza finished her hop-skip the glass windows of the Station blew out in a flame filled explosion and tourtured screams filled the air.

The small group froze, eyes wide with horror.

Liza turned around as Alexza began to growl.

Standing atop the building, curly black locks blowing in the over heated breeze, was a decked out Magma Admin.

He grinned down at them and flipped them off as a well dress, ginger haired man calmly stepped into a red and black helicopter.

**_.:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:._**

Maxi looked down from his view in the helicopter, red eyes caught a glimpse of blonde hair and narrowed in frustration. It seemed that the number of annoying brats just kept getting higher.

_First there was that pitiful assassin, then Marcus and his little playmate, and now _this.

With a sigh he pressed his earpiece and contacted his most _faithful _Admin on the roof.

"Blaze. Keep them busy, I don't want a repeat of our last attempt."

The boy saluted the Magma leader,

"Yes sir!"

Before turning and barking out orders the remaining grunts.

Maxi nodded, satisfied that he would not be stopped this time, and ordered the helicopter to pick up speed.

He had no time to waste.

**_.:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:._**

Alexza looked up onto the underbelly of the disappearing helicopter, and snarled:

"**_Team Magma…"_**

The blonde reached down to call out Salazar, fully ready to take out her most powerful dragon out for a 'test flight' when the screams in the building started up again.

Alexza snapped her eyes back towards the building and took off after Olivia, Liza, and Tate up the stairs and into the building. Remembering at the last moment to yell for Zaku and Zinita to round up the neighbors and their pokemon for help to put out the raging fires.

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**_"A- Akumu?"_**

"Tha's my name!" With a wink the purple haired assassin placed a tray of warm food down in front of the two cold and hungry children.

There was a long pause as Akumu continued to smile and the children refused to move. Looks of incredulity and mistrust painted on their faces.

With a drawn out sigh, Akumu shifted her weight and placed a fist on her hip.

"What's za the matter?"

Another pause, then;

"…why are we here?"

Both Marcus and Akumu blinked at the small voice coming from Kiri, it was nothing like the loud, self-righteous tones they usually endured.

Still, it was more than a fair question.

"You're here 'cause I don't kill kids – and because this one right here has some explaining to do."

With that Akumu sat down next to Marcus and leaned into his personal space.

"What the _hell_ is your father planning to do with that meteorite?"

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AN: You didn't think I had forgotten about Akumu, Kiri, and Marcus did you? ;3

Hi guys! I hope you liked the chapter… you haven't seen _anything_ yet.

I would just like to say that this chapter took **forever** so if you see any mistakes, I'm sorry this has been in the works and bits and peices might still be out of order. I will be going back over it soon - I just really wanted to get this out to you, like, _yesterday. _

Despite all of that I'm still really proud of this chapter.

…Oh dear. Re-reading this chapter it would seem I have a habit of knocking Olivia off of things. Sorry 'Via!

*Thinking back on Alexza's history... What kid _wouldn't_ sneak in to watch their town's gym leader battle? Her interaction with her town's gym leader could also be a reason why she has such a strong dislike, _fear really,_ of any kind of prediction or prophecy. [And her hate of 'bedtime stories', how many heroes have 'destinies' or 'fate' ahead of them? I'm recalling _a lot._]

(1) Kakugai means "nonstandard / extraordinary / special"

(2) Hey, did anyone realize that Tate, one of the twins, is actually a **_boy_**? I was surprised by this as it wasn't mentioned in the games and I honestly could not tell– so I'm glad I found out before I messed up! Also... I'm not really sure which twin owns which pokemon outside of Lunatone and Solrock. Sorry! If anyone _does_ know please let _me_ know so I can fix it!

(3) _This particular neighbor gifted Alexza with a King's Rock in the shape of a crown. However, upon her second attempt to refuse the extreemly heavy gift, the boy yowled and decided to jam the 'crown' onto her head. This lead to a very hasty and forced retreat before Alexza could recover and return the favor._


	24. The Hits Start Coming

The group of children hurriedly unleashed their respective teams of Pokémon.

Orders rang though the air, and slowly but surely the small group managed to tear their way through the building. Liza let out a sigh as yet another scientist was levitated out to safety, the trails of his once white lab-coat flapping passively above her head.

'_Thank Acreus we stopped off at the Pokémon center. If we hadn't stopped to heal our Pokémon…'_

The elder twin winced, images of her brother and new friends burning to death rose unbidden to her mind. Liza shook her head harshly and turned to survey what remained of the floor she was on.

'_So much was lost in this attack… years and years of research. Gone.'_

A loud crash brought her mind back to the present.

'_Tate- No, he's here.'_

She turned to see her brother handling their Pokémon with more skill than she thought he had. She was surprised to see him actually reaching out and using his fledgling powers in an attempt to help the Pokémon with their tasks. After all, neither of them were especially powerful…at least not yet.

_Zaku? He's with Zinita. They're dealing with this well… And here I had been hoping that they hadn't seen death before... Who else? …Olivia!'_

Liza winced and ran for what remained of the exit to the roof, giggling a little as she heard the foul language ringing out.

'_Some one's really stepped on that Admins' toes…'_

Bringing her thoughts back to the admin lit a fire in the usually bubbly girl's belly.

'_How _dare_ they think they can do this in _my _town! Who do they think they are?'_

The second youngest Hoenn gym leader, the youngest being her brother, slowly became angry. Her nimble feet danced up the now half gone ladder with ease.

'_I know he's not mine to take down… I've seen what he gets! I know how he ends… but screw fate, I'm going to try! This jerkface shouldn't get a free shot at other's lives!'_

And with that the young girl twisted herself up to her feet on the roof and started towards the battle that was taking place there between the Magma strike team and her new friends.

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"Alexza! Another one your way!"

The blonde ducked, spun, and knocked yet another red clad form off of the roof, thanking her purple haired friend with a grateful nod.

'_I hate to admit it... But I didn't think there were this many of them stupid enough to stay up here! I don't think I could have taken them all if I was on my own…'_

The blonde scowled as a brunette trainer's words came to mind.

'…_I hate it when other people are right.'_

Finally, she looked up and saw a clear path to her target. Alexza whistled for Static and dashed her way over the fallen grunts. Not bothering to avoid stepping on their injured and sprawled forms.

'_It's clear enough for me.'_

Green eyes narrowed in anger - locked onto her target, this was the jackass from Johto. This was the man who torched a Pokémon center. _This _was the man who _attacked her little sister_!

"Static! Use thunderfang!"

The luxio charged the man, wisps of lightning trailing behind its jaw. Alexza let loose a feral snarl as the man's Camerupt intercepted the attack. She grinned as she saw her faithful partner spill the other Pokémon's blood. A sick grin creeping onto her face.

There are times when even _she _thinks that her thirst for revenge goes too far… Arceus knows that others have told her as much. Acreus knows what she's done when this mood creeps up and grabs her. They don't understand though, none of those adults do. They lose and they heal and they _forget! _They didn't understand, they never would. But there were days where she did. _She_ could understand, she could have that clarity. But then, all she has to do is look in the mirror and see red eyes on her familiar face for her wrath to be rekindled.

The young girl snapped out of her thoughts just in time for a flamethrower to meet Static's thunderbolt. The attacks detonated just in front of her, and she used the chokingly thick smoke to hide in, to get in close.

She's right in front of him now, close enough to smell the expensive cologne of his boss and the cheap detergent he uses to wash that horrid uniform.

"Where's my sister."

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Blaze grins, and he knows its all sharp teeth, with edges of lurking sadism and madness, and he _knows_ that its frightening. He's been told so. By his mother, by his cousin, by those little old ladies who thought _they_ knew _everything_!

But within seconds of it forming he knew that _this_ child wouldn't tell him that…

What was _wrong _with her anyway?

Where was the _fear?_

Where were the _tears?_

'_I had your little sister by the throat, and all you can do is be _angry_? Heh, kid you're growing to be more of a monster than I am!_'

Blaze smacks the girl away from him with little effort. And he can _see_ her bristle through her rage at being batted aside.

'_You trained didn't you? You're such a small little thing, but I bet no one ever sees you that way once you get a few kicks in. Nah, you're too busy being angry to be as small and light as you really are. Who the hell unleashed you out into the world kid? You're gonna get yourself killed-!'_

He frowned as the kid dove out of the way of his bullets, and nabbed her by her long hair after she kicked the weapon out of his hands and off of the roof.

'_If you keep running in like this!'_

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Alexza writhed and struggled and snarled like a wild thing in the tall man's grasp.

'_Shit! How the _hell_ did he catch me!'_

She leaned into him and slammed at his floating ribs with her elbows and forehead.

Strong, tall, experienced or not – he was going to _regret_ doing that!

She grinned as his grip slackened for a moment, her hair rushing through his fingers before he calmed his seizing hands and tightened his grip.

Too little, too late. She had enough room now to reach his less… defended areas.

With a howl of pain the man released her and folded over. Alexza threw herself clear and crab-shuffled backwards, throwing out Scree and ordering him to attack the preoccupied male.

An Arcanine unexpectedly intercepted the sonic boom attack, and wavered perilously along the roof's edge for a few heart-stopping moments. The large fire type canine recovered with a roar and ran up to support its trainer.

"You… you seriously have issues kid."

Alexza grinned as the man wheezed the comment out, and scowled as she understood the words.

"I'm not the one working for a criminal syndicate bent on destroying the ocean and increasing the land mass."

The man stood up, and quickly winced reaching for his abdomen on instinct.

"You little shit…" He muttered as he felt the damage, blood dribbling out of the corner of his mouth. He raised his voice to answer her again, wiping the blood away on the back of one gloved hand.

"I don't hear you denying it kid." He saw her open her mouth to retort and sighed and waved his hand, his Arcanine dashing out with an extreemespeed attack at the motion.

"Forget it. I'm not hear to talk to a crazy like you, and its not like I'm gonna say anything you haven't heard before."

He grinned as he heard her snarl at his comment, though he couldn't see it through the flames and the following explosion. He rubbed his side again. It still hurt his pride that he had been hurt at all.

'_She really is little…'_

His thoughts were put on hold as he spied a blue glow surrounding his Pokémon. It was lucky he did, because the next second they were being dropped off of the roof by that cunning little psychic.

He quickly recalled his Pokémon before sending them back out, letting his Mightyena out to shut down the _other_ little girl he had to deal with today.

He pulled a sour expression at the thought.

'_At this point I'm either running the most psychotic daycare ever – or everyone is going to think I'm a pedophile.'_

Neither thought was very appealing to the young man.

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"What does Marcus's dad have to do with _anything_?"

Kiri backed her statement up with a large gesture towards Akumu, herself, Marcus, and the howling wind and snow that belonged on a mountain that most definitely _did not_ belong in Johto.

Her brown eyes held Akumu's gold, right up until she caught the guilty expression on her (_ex?)_ rival's face from the corner of her eye.

'_Oh no…'_

She rounded on him, her untied kimono swaying with her movements.

"Please don't tell me that _you've_ been sucked into this whole _'Crime Syndicate'_ thing too!"

The answering flat looks did nothing to help her incredulity. Kiri slammed her head down onto the wooden table.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me."

"Sorry kid. Just wait until you hear who his Father _is_!"

Kiri turned her head to give Marcus the stink eye, reconsidered, and instead took a long look at his flaming red hair. She slammed her head down onto the table again, ignoring the chinking and clattering sound the dishes made in their tray.

"For the sake of Arceus and my remaining sanity _please_ don't tell me you're involved with the people who kidnapped us!"

"… I'm in no way connected with the crazy lady across from you."

Kiri lifted her head again and gave the wood below her a long, thoughtful look before slamming her head back down towards it. Sadly, she wasn't able to knock herself into unconsciousness – Marcus' hands shot out and wrapped around her forehead and shoulder stopping her less than an inch above her target. His pale hand bumped the table lightly before propping her back up into a sitting position.

Kiri sighed and leaned heavily into her (_friend?) _rival's side.

"Okay. Shoot. Who is he?"

"My father's name is Matsubusa Kazangan… But he's better known as 'Maxi of Team Magma'."

Kiri snapped upright at the team's name.

'_Magma…'_

The word brought up a slew of bad memories. The stories of her older sister dying in that cursed volcano, a picture of a proud looking red haired man in a crumpled newspaper that didn't quite make it into the waste bin, the tears her family cried, the strange grating words (_bad words, that she knew she shouldn't _ever _repeat_) that fell from the adults around her, and that dreaded capital 'M' that drove her remaining sister away from home and out into the world with a strange new attitude…

"You… You're _his _son?"

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He saw it in her eyes. He didn't want to see it, he had seen it too often already.

The shock, the horror, and then the _anger_.

Because he wasn't even _him. _

_He_ wasn't even there. Just the shadow of the man that everyone saw whenever he showed his face. Marcus felt his throat close and felt so many of his hopes shatter and plummet with his heart.

Kiri hadn't ever looked at him like that. A lot of the older, better traveled, trainers did. Most of the adult trainers did. And Arceus knew that _every_ Officer Jenny looked at him with some level of disgust.

But never Kiri.

And that had made her special, because Kiri was the first. He had never told her how close she had come with her teasing.

'_You're so antisocial!'_

'_What would your mother think of your language!' _

'_What? Your dad never taught you how to swim?' _

'_You can't ride a bike? Was _he _not around to teach you that either?'_

She was the _first_ trainer to battle him because he was _just him_. Not because he was _his son_ but because she was looking at _him_. She was judging _him._

She had a problem with _his _cursing.

She had helped _him_ learn how to swim.

She had teased _him_ for not knowing how to ride a bike, slowing down her pedals and making careful turns around him as she giggled and teased and taunted him until he got back up and pedaled after her.

She had been there for _him._

Not for revenge, not for anger or sorrow or loathing!

Not for his father.

Kairia Namigaii was the first to be there for Marcus, _because of Marcus himself_.

The silver eyed boy lowered his gaze and let himself be pushed to the ground by the girl's small hands.

"You… you!"

He waited for her to find the words. He knew what she was going to say. He'd heard it before.

'_Do you know what your family's done to us?'_

'_How _dare _you show your face around here!'_

'_What was your mother thinking? You're the spawn of the devil you know!'_

'_You little jerk! No one cares about _you,_ better you die here and never become _him_!'_

'_Did you think we didn't know? You look just like he did. Are you going to grow up and rape and steal and break families too?'_

"You… _**idiot!**_"

Marcus blinked and lowered his arms from above his head, and was blindsided by the encompassing hug Kiri tackled him into.

"_**Why**__ didn't you say _anything! Why aren't you hiding? What if he came _after_ you! Huh? Did you ever think of that! You _**moron**_! Johto isn't far enough! He could have _gotten you_!"

"…but? My dad… he's…"

"Clearly a 'psychotic rapist of a jackass that needs to be put down'"

_Now_ he was stunned. Even if Kiri sounded as though she was quoting someone he _never _thought he'd hear her talk like that…

"Kiri…"

He leaned into her welcoming arms and finally let the tears fall into the dark fabric of her kimono. With a choking laugh that sounded more like a sob, he asked;

"What would your mother think of your language?"

"I think she'd understand…"

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Liza screamed and threw herself out of the way of the snapping jaws of the Mightyena.

'_He has a dark type! What are the odds?'_

She felt her brother panic at her loud thoughts and for once gave no attention to trying to calm him.

'_Tate! HELP!'_

A spiney, orange, blurr side tackled the Mightyena and drove it to the edge of the roof, where it spun off and back around – firing off a solarbeam as it passed.

Liza grinned as her Lunatone joined her brother's Solrock in the battle, freezing the Mightyena solid with an icebeam attack.

'_How was that?'_

Liza flashed a quick grin at her brother before pulling him into a hug.

"Amazing."

The two turned their heads as they caught the sound of cracking ice. Fearing for the worst, they scrambled for their other pokeballs.

Tate reacted faster than Liza, and had his arm back to release his pokemon when he registered what had happened. The young male twin let out a laugh as he saw his Solrock circling the air off of the roof triumphantly – swirling in and around in strange patterns for a few moments before it started to happily 'dance' around his sister's Lunatone.

The two psychic pokemon had pushed the dark type off of the roof. It wasn't going to be going after one of _their_ trainers ever again.

Tate sighed in relief, and in a small touch of guilt as well. He had dreamed of killing before, knew he would one day have to, but still – this really was the closest he had come so far.

Maybe the future wasn't as dark as his dreams.

He froze as an explosion went off a few feet away from them, the black smoke and the harsh gust of wind nearly toppled him over. Probably would have if he hadn't been holding onto his sister!

He turned to look at where he knew that blonde haired _menace_ would be.

'_Well, _she'_s just as I saw her…'_

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"Guardian, watergun now! Static, I need you to run interception! Fry anything that gets near you!"

'_I really hadn't counted on him being this tough!'_

Alexza caught that thought, sat on it, suffocated it, and then lit it on fire as she ducked the Arcanine's wild flamethrower. She smirked as she heard the fire type yelp in displeasure as the water jets hit it – and actually grinned as she saw its sopping form light up with a flare of blue electricity.

'_There we go! Lets see it get back up from that!'_

She froze for a moment, as she thought she felt something too close to her.

'_Better safe…'_

The preteen trainer ran up to her pokemon, and the fallen Arcanine, just in time to turn around and see two adult hands lunge out for her from within the remains of a smokescreen

'…_than sorry!'_

She froze again, the sense of triumph falling dead into the pit of her stomach, as the back of her head made contact with a thin, metal tube. Her eyes widened in panic, pupils contracting quickly in horror.

'_How did he… When?'_

Alexza flinched as she heard the '_click'_ of the safety being shut off from behind her, and swallowed heavily as she saw Blaze walk out towards her through the smoke.

"Y-you…? Then who…"

'_Who's behind me?'_

A sick grin was her first answer, the second came to her from his oily tones.

"I don't know…. Maybe its one of those poor grunts you kicked around earlier. Silly little girl"

She almost, _almost_, flinched back as the man's thrice damned scent invaded her senses again. _Detergent, cologne, and at least he reeks of sweat and blood now!_

She readied herself to spit on him, but thought better of it when the gun poked her lightly, _in a controlled manner_, in the back of the head. No wavering, the stance behind her was strong, and with the Magma Admin getting closer with every passing second… Alexza didn't see a way out.

'_Fuck.'_

She was trapped.

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"So… where are we going?"

The young girl had to shout to be heard over the howling winds. She looked backwards, for a moment, to the boy who's arms were wrapped tightly around her waist and gripping onto the jagged spines in front of her. She quickly turned her head back to face the woman sitting on the powerful neck of the dragon, eager to hear what she had to say for herself.

"Into Hoenn. With how long I've been gone? Chances are your sisters' gotten herself into _some_ kind of trouble."

The assassin turned back to look at Marcus.

"You need to stay awake this time, 'cuase I need to know where to go."

She raised one hand off of the dragon's back to halt his speech.

"Yeah, ya told me what you know already. But like it or not, you _are_ his kid. You've been around him enough to have some idea of how Headhat thinks. So come on! You've got an assassin gone without leave outta the country, five strike teams dead, a single trainer hell bent on avenging her sister, and you've just picked up the final key to obtaining near unlimited power. Where. Are. You. Headed?"

Marcus scowled and buried his face into Kiri's shoulder, gripping onto the dragon's spines harder.

"I'm headed to…"

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"Ah, Lilycove City is just so nice this time of year! Isn't it?"

Matsubusa Kazagan smiled as he stepped off of his private helicopter. Enjoying the automatic reply of 'Yes, Sir!' that echoed around him.

The leader of Team Magma calmly walked down the road that would lead him to his final, and greatest, prize.

'_Victory is nigh.'_

He wouldn't be stopped this time. His hand would not waver – he had ensured that this time around.

'_She was a fluke.'_

That one child… that one _cursed_ girl who had looked so, so very much like his late beloved. With wild black hair and firey red eyes, and the devotion she had to pokemon!

So many fools thought he had based his syndicate's colors off of _his_ hair… how wrong they were. After all, there was more black in the Magma uniform than red.

Matsubusa curled his hand into a tight fist.

Of course the boy had looked _nothing_ like her. All harsh angles, even at a young age, and red hair and Arceus only knew where the boy had gotten those _ghost_ eyes.

No, the boy was nothing like his sweet mother had been.

No fear of water, though he had made sure the boy never learned to swim.

No innate kindness, though running for your life since you could walk can do that to a human.

No gentle touch or desire to understand! Oh, yes. _That_ the boy had gotten from him. You either conformed to his desires or you were removed from the picture – as permanently as he was able to make it.

And with how small the world had become… There simply wasn't enough room for another monster. Certainly not one of _his_ caliber.

'_Soon, my love, I will have destroyed that which took you from me… and then, once all is settled, I shall join you. And we shall never be separated again.'_

Matsubusa 'Maxi' Kazangan smiled to himself at his own description of his unwanted son's eyes.

'_Yes… the word 'ghost' is rather fitting, isn't it? Considering where this last bit of power is hiding…'_

He didn't bother to contain the mad chuckle that spilled from his lips.

It didn't matter anymore. After all, she wasn't around to hear it.

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A myriad of curses whirled around Alexza's mind, mixed with a single thought.

'_How did I let this happen?'_

The Admin was too close now, she couldn't even turn her head to see who had her captive. The young trainer swallowed again, more smoothly this time even though the action set her stomach into knots.

That grin was all she could focus on at this point, and she wondered pointlessly if it was his trademark.

'_Killed at the hands of a Magma Cheshire… Damn. Damn it all!'_

The Admin laughed, a horrible grating sound that made Alexza shiver and sent small tears down her cheeks.

"Well, I've had enough of her squirming. She's a real pain. Shoot her and lets head out, we're just about done here."

Alexza felt the person behind her nod, and thought she could feel the arm behind her tense and contract with the energy required to pull the trigger of the gun resting behind her skull.

'_Like a mercy shooting. At least it'll be quick.'_

Maybe that knowledge was supposed to comfort her.

It didn't.

She didn't _want_ to die.

She was young! She knew she was smart and quick and brave and reckless. The threat had always been there. Had been there long before that incident in the forest!

But she still didn't want to die.

It still didn't feel possible.

So she decided to make her last thoughts what she thought they should be.

Cold.

Angry.

Vengeful.

Unstoppable.

Everything she had tried so hard to be in life…

'_I'm not going to blink. I'm going to come back and haunt him, I swear it!'_

She didn't shut her eyes.

_**BANG**_

"NO!"

A blue glow lit up from the corner of her eye and the bullet nicked the top of her right ear, the sudden burning pain was enough for her tears to run freely down her cheeks.

As the blood welled up from the wound and pooled down into her ear Alexza only had a few seconds to identify the glowing boy at the edge of her vision.

"She's not supposed to die yet!"

'…_well _that's_ reassuring. I wouldn't want my death to be _untimely_ now would I?'_

She swallowed, recognizing that she was going into shock. Somewhere in her head she realized that her thoughts sounded on just-the-sane-side of maniacal. Barely. She was teetering.

'_Too much time around Akumu.'_

The thought registered, and then she was falling towards the ground. Barely recovering enough from the shock to break her fall and roll back to her knees hovering over Tate as he lay on the ground beneath her.

'_Oh. He tackled me…'_

Shit. She really was going into shock. Her thoughts were so _slow!_

She stared down into the boy's wide black eyes and frowned slightly, was he okay? He didn't look okay. He was breathing too harshly and looked flushed. He hadn't hit his head, right?

_Her_ head hurt.

Everything was like moving through molasses. Sticky and slow and far too bothersome to try and keep up with.

Another loud bang rang through the air, and it was like the world sped back up.

'_That bullet! Where did it go? It missed me…'_

Alexza slowly raised her head to see Blaze clutching his shoulder with one arm, and that that arm was now being clutched with the other.

The second bullet had lodged itself deep into the Admin's elbow, which was placed protectivly over his chest.

Alexza traced the shot back to the weapon, past the shiny barrel, up the black clad arm, and right into red eyes and hair.

"Shelly…"

The Team Aqua Executive grinned, her gaze never leaving the wounded Magma Admin.

"Hey there little shark! You got yourself into a whole kettle of trouble while we were away."

"We?"

The Executive nodded, and used one arm to gesture down towards the ground.

"Who do you think helped the other little ones put out that fire? You're lucky we reached the Rocket Fuel before the fires did, otherwise this whole island wouldn't _be here_!"

Alexza blinked sluggishly. Trying to figure out why that sentence sounded odd to her. After a few minutes of dizzying thoughts, she gave up. She'd work it out later, it couldn't be anything too important, right?

The blonde gave a small shaky smile to go with her thanks. She blinked again, the world really starting to spin.

"Oh no! Don't you _dare_! Alexza Namigaii! If you faint so help me-!"

She'd have to talk to Tate later about this _yelling_ thing of his. He'd seemed like such a quiet boy back in the gym…

And everything went dark.


	25. And They Don't Start Goin'

**_:~Belated AN~:_**

Er- Hi there! Um... yes. Well. I'm not dead yet? I'll explain later. Please enjoy this for now.

**_Yes, yes... I think I'll explain later. From a safe distance. In a different dimension. Yeah. That'll work..._**

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Shelly let out a laugh as she caught the flustered expression of the trapped young psychic.

"So… you two do this often?"

Tears of mirth sprung up in her eyes as the boy's face turned a bright red and sputtered, pretty halfhearted she noticed, denials fell from his lips.

"BWAAAAHAAAAHAAA!"

Shelly closed her eyes as the obnoxious laughter rang through the settling debris.

"SHUT UP SEAN! WE'VE WORK TO DO! GET THE KIDS OFF THE ROOF AND LETS BOOK IT!"

The burly man laughed and fussed with his bandanna for a moment

"Ah… you take away all of my fun Captain. Hoy! You lot! Get yer arses ova here 'fore I toss ya off da roof myself!"

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"So, when… think… wake up?"

'_Who's talking so loudly?'_

"LOOK! Eyes… ment… sign?"

'_Argh! Voices! Shut up! No one likes you, go away!'_

"Hit… ead… pretty hard. Still….ould be up…now. Ah, …think she's f… up!"

'_Gah, its so bright! What's with all of the white?'_

Alexza let out a moan as her eyes slammed shut, not wanting to deal with the consequences that came with being conscious.

"Some one turn off the light…"

"ALEXZA!"

The trainer winced and grabbed her fuzzy feeling head at the shout. She winced again as she was dog piled by her concerned friends.

"OOF! …Ow. Now that I'm up, does anyone want to tell me what's going on?"

Zinita and Liza started talking at the same time, while Olivia made some large obscure gestures with her arms, hands and even leg. Tate was… pouting(?) on the edges of the room a small flush lingering on his cheeks and neck. Zaku had clambered into the hospital bed with her and was now sitting and holding her hand tightly as he passed Alexza her pokemon.

"What happened to that Magma Admin? Heck, where's Team Aqua?"

A mix of guilty, angry, and resigned looks answered Alexza's question. There were several beats of silence, and eventually it was Olivia who spoke up.

"He got away… pulled out an Aerodactyl outta nowhere and flew off. After that, Team Aqua left like they said they were going to… but they made off with the Rocket Fuel. Sean mentioned something about a high-powered Submarine from Lilycove and something else about Sootopolis…'

The blonde shot into a sitting poison, startling Zaku who fell off of the bed with a small yelp. She regretted it seconds later, as the vertigo caught up with her. She rested for a moment with her head in her hands before looking up through her fingers at the psychic twins.

"You knew this was going to happen."

It wasn't a question, but the two nodded their replies all the same.

"We knew the two teams were going to attack… we knew that someone was going to be in danger. We just didn't know enough of the details."

Liza looked down as Alexza's gaze turned harsh. The blonde opened her mouth, a scathing remark most likely balanced on her tongue, but was stopped by Tate.

"She told you that we didn't know! We're not Sabrina, Alexza! We're not that good yet!"

Alexza swallowed, a bitter expression on her face.

"Yeah. I don't think anyone is."

Another pause.

"Do you know where they're all headed? For certain, I mean."

The twins exchanged glances and nodded.

"They're going to Mt. Pyre, and then they're going to make their way to Sootopolis City. Lilycove is a day away by boat… Sootopolis is two days by water on pokemon and then you need to be able to dive under to reach the town."

Tate picked up where his sister left off, lifting up a large lavender sack as he spoke.

"…we packed you some supplies and have the Dive HM ready to lend to you. That was going to be the last stop on the tour… just in case none of this had happened."

The crushed hope in the young boy's voice was enough to tell everyone in the room which one of the twins had foreseen the recent events. Alexza gave the psychics a small smile, and thanked them before shooing everyone out of the room so that she could change. She wasn't going to discuss battle plans in the skimpy hospital gown!

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Alexza sat down on Tate's bed and spread her fingers through Static's fur. They had decided to meet at the twin's house for more privacy and better access to the media then they would have had at the pokemon center.

"So. What's the vote? Do we catch them at Sootopolis, or head them off at Lilycove?"

In retrospect, it was a stupid question. The twins had already announced that they couldn't leave their town alone while their biggest attraction was still smoking and falling apart.

And the Shironi siblings _lived_ in Lilycove.

Their votes were obvious; they wanted to head back and protect their home.

Olivia had protested, wanting to move ahead and set a trap for the criminal teams with the assistance of Sootopolis' leader. In the end, Olivia was over ruled by two large pairs of puppy dog eyes and the vows of eternal hatred made by the two Shironi children should she not acquiesce.

Within less than an hour of announcing their decision, the twins had procured a captain and a ship willing to take them back across to Lilycove as fast as the ship could travel. It helped to have a pair of gym leaders backing your case.

Unfortuneatly the actuality of the trip had hit a small snag, as Alexza experienced a sudden childish streak of behavior.

"No. I'm not getting back onto that hellish thing."

"But… Alexza, we've got to catch up to Team Magma!"

The blonde trainer had made a sorrowful sound deep in her throat before turning pleading eyes back at the two gym leaders. Olivia had narrowed her eyes at the sound, and at the odd expression, or truly lack there of, on Alexza's face.

'_Something's not right here…'_

However, before Olivia could act, Tate caved and left with Alexza to fetch an alternate means of transport for the scared blonde.

As the two passed, the purple haired aide overheard the psychic mutter something about a leftover water sled from their family's last vacation in Altomare.

And so Alexza was sent ahead with a hyper Guardian tugging her through the sea.

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The twelve year old looked back and drank in the sight of her friends waving to her on the pier. Alexza smiled once, really and truly smiled, before turning her attention to the next large wave she was going to have to jump.

'_It's twenty minutes to Lilycove… but I need to go _past_ there!'_

Alexza nodded to herself, adjusting her old pokegear so that Guardian could hear his favorite song as it came out over the speakers and through her backpack. Alexza was very glad that she had thought to record her pokemon's favorite tunes last year, as her little mudfish gave a happy chirp and picked up speed, humming along with the song as he swam.

She sighed as her green eyes took in the raging ocean, the waters were rougher than she remembered on her journey out… but that could just be the change in tides. Or it could have to do with her small, bobbing sled. Alexza really had no concrete idea. Never the less, it was a rather monotonous trip.

_Blue, blue, blue, big wave, blue, flying seaweed, dodge, swerve, recover, blue, blue, blue._

Green eyes dulled, if you've seen one wave you've seen 'em all. In fact, if it wasn't for the now persisting ache in her arms, Alexza would have fallen asleep.

With a sigh, she glanced cautiously at one of the fishing rod racks. The small sled had been slightly modified for fishing… but still really wasn't made for ocean travel. She wasn't sure how putting the reins down would affect her course, and wasn't willing to risk it. On the other hand, she also wouldn't be able to do much if she arrived with heavily aching arms or without the ability to send out her pokemon.

Still, she had time to juggle her decision. The other coast was still well out of sight and Alexza hazed a guess that it would be another ten or so minutes before she would be able to catch a glimpse of her destination.

A sudden stabbing of fresh pain shot down her left arm as the sled crashed down the back of a large wave. Alexza huffed and jammed the triangle shaped bar down over three fishing rod holders and winced as the raft swung around. The small craft dipped around, water sloshed at Alexza's sneakers, and the metal gave a strained 'eeek' for all of half a minute before the sled righted itself and carried on. Granting Alexza a small reprieve.

While Alexza wasn't sure how long it would be wise to leave the sled this way, she knew that it was going to be her best bet. She'd take up the reins again once she was closer.

'_Almost there. It's almost over.'_

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The small sled dipped down as Alexza launched herself off of it and onto the decaying pier in front of her.

Guardian was out and had already doused one overly curious vulpix into submission. Alexza shook her head, threw the pokeball, and continued walking after she head the 'click'.

'_Once a trainer, always a trainer. But today, I'm a trainer second… and a sister first.'_

A sudden shout reached the young girl's ears in time for her move out of the way of the shadow that had formed on the ground. The shout turned into a scream as it became louder and drew closer, and the shadow took on a distinct shape.

With a loud THUD accompanied by the sickening sound of snapping bones and the meaty sound of impacted flesh, a body landed a few feet away from where Alexza was now standing.

Her green eyes grew wide in confusion and horror, before taking in the Magama uniform that the apparent grunt was clothed in, and she turned to look up the mountain.

And saw nothing.

No signs of battle, no shouts, no screams.

Nothing.

Just jagged rock and an unearthly swirling mist…

'_Just how tall is Mt. Pyre?'_

Alexza swallowed before gathering her nerve and taking off at a fast clip towards the fancy doors that were provide for those mourning the buried pokemon on the island.

She paid no mind the numerous tombs around her, only focusing on the squeak her shoes made as the tiles flew beneath her feet. The squeaking stopped as the trainer flew out the doors and her running shoes dug into the dewy grass, searching for traction. Guardian was hot on her heels, switching to run rather awkwardly on all fours in effort to keep up with the pace his trainer had set. Alexza rounded a corner and started up the first of many staircases.

A feeling of dread was curling in her gut, and it was growing stronger with every passing moment.

'_Something's happening… and it's not good. Faster, faster… gotta move faster!'_

Two stairs at a time, another set, a landing, another set. Grass again, round the corner, jump out of the way of the wild pokemon – _No time for random battles! – _keep moving, always moving!

'_This is getting ridiculous! I've been running up these stairs for-freaking-ever!'_

Alexza stopped at the base of yet another landing, the seventh one she's hit, and gasped for breath. She looked down at the now sweat covered pokeball in her hand, and winced as she pried her stiff fingers off of it. She had taken it out to recall Guardian when it became obvious he couldn't keep up. Flexing the fingers of that hand, the blonde juggled the pokeball from left to right a few times before locking her fingers around it again and taking off.

_Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud._

_Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump._

_Lub-Dub. Lub-Dub. Lub-Dub. Lub-Dub._

Her heart and body fell into the four beat rhythm that her running had turned into. Two more long staircases later, Alexza spotted a strange glow through the mist in front of her.

She slowed her pace as she walked off of the last few steps, before quickly moving towards the light.

Green eyes widened and glowed as the unreal sight of a monstrous blue Protect barrier loomed ahead and above her. It was insanely massive, there must have been at least twenty or more Pokémon being used to maintain it – forget what she could see _through_ it.

Inside of the barrier was a cacophony of red and blue that surged backwards and forwards in jagged and smooth intervals. The tempo changed between the rigorous shakes of an earthquake, and the writhing of the sea that surrounded them all. Team Magma and Team Aqua members battled with everything they had.

Guns were being fired.

Pokémon were sent out.

Fists were flying and legs were kicking and total anarchy seemed to reign supreme.

There were no rules, no set opponents. The teams seemed to be mindlessly hitting whomever they could reach as hard as they possibly could.

Alexza frowned and released Static. She exchanged looks with the luxio as the electric cat sized up the barrier. His tell-tale blue electricity began to crackle through his fur, but was stopped short of his attack by Alexza raising her left hand.

'_Okay. It's massive, but that means there are going to be _weak links_ in it. After all, that grunt had to fall from _somewhere. _Lets find _where._'_

Alexza and Static crept around the barrier's perimeter and were surprisingly ignored by the overly hostile teams as they focused on beating the ever living daylights out of their rival.

Balancing on top of the scattered graves was more than a little unsettling, _especially when that Dusclops had leapt out and swiped for her ankle,_ but it was effective. Alexza quickly scaled a small cliff next to a growing crack in the barrier, which was, unsettlingly enough, stained with splashes of blood.

Static unleashed the previously stored energy in a quick Charge Beam through the crack at the resting Mightyena. The already tired pokemon fainted and Alexza and Static quickly rushed through into the fray.

The blonde and her lion ran through and between battles, trying not to get involved and hoping they wouldn't be noticed. They had to dodge several attacks, flying bodies, body parts, and Alexzas' shirt was ripped by a deflected bullet. Fortunately the shirt was their only casualty, and the two made it to yet _another_ stair way.

Alexza paused for half a second to look up in disbelief at the ridicuosly large mountain. How was it possible that there were more stairs to climb? Still this wasn't the place to stop and muse on the mysteries of the world, so on that note the blonde scurried up the steps, using her hands as much as her feet to scramble up the stone stairs as quickly as possible.

As Alexza reached top of the stairs, she paused and took in the sights that hit her as she reached the landing. The first of which was the red clad body flying at her head, the blonde squeaked and hit the ground just in time for the unfortunate Team Magma member to go flying down the stairs and land with a sickening crunch as his face lost the battle with the hard ground beneath him, and caved in with a grotesque squelch.

Alexza turned her attention away from the fallen grunt, stomach rolling slightly at the grisly death, and back up towards the landing in front of her.

A group of both team Magma and Aqua grunts seemed to have found a common enemy, and had decided to focus solely on him or her. Behind the massive bundle of grunts was _yet another staircase_… but it seemed to be the last one she would have to climb.

Standing at the edge of the staircase above her was a man in a long, red cloak. His red hair was whipping wildly in the tails of the wind that appeared from the detonation of his pokemon's attacks, and his nicely pressed suit was now sullied and ripped. He moved away from the edge quickly, and within a few seconds Alexza was able to make out the figure of yet another distinguished man. The second had scruffy black facial hair and a familiar blue bandana tied tightly around his head.

'_Maxi and Archie…'_

Her breath caught in her throat as the screams of the battle behind her faded away beneath the pounding of her heart in her ears. Wide emerald eyes locked and narrowed with the man's cool black.

The growl was out into the air before she had even registered her feet charging forward.

"_You!"_

She had the great satisfaction of being able to trip the Aqua Leader down the flight of stairs as he got in her way, a heavy palm thrust to the chest left her pulling away with a spare serrated knife.

Maxi danced around her frenzied swings, frowning as the enraged blonde tore his coat up in the scuffle.

_SWIPE_

She rolled to a stop and leaned against a rock, panting for the breath her adrenaline had momentarily suppressed the need for, a grin on her face as she watched the blood roll down the blade's tip.

A hand slowly raised to Maxi's cheek.

She had _almost _gotten him. He had been looking for stabs and swipes, mainly at his chest where all of the blade's teeth had been reaching for earlier, and she had snapped up and barely missed slicing open his neck. She must feel so _disappointed _having missed.

'_Clever little girl, aren't you?'_

He tore a piece of his coat off and dabbed gently at the graze. He glanced back down at the child. She was still catching her breath.

'_Little girl, you're far too young to keep up.'_

Maxi didn't bother to waste words on the blonde,

'_Such angry eyes... Her face is familiar, but those eyes… No. She simply looks like yet another of us. Who knew there were so very many monsters lurking around this little world?'_

He let out a whistle and gave a small smile as he heard the pounding of feet race up the stairs. The man spared a glance at his rival, who had managed to hit his head on his impromptu trip down the stairs. The ocean-lover was still dazed, but managed to let out a returning 'Yalp!' to summon his own forces.

The stairs swarmed and churned with a mass of new blue and red bodies.

Maxi smirked and turned on his heel. He had what he had come for, sticking around and letting a child take pot-shots at him was _not_ on the agenda.

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Alexza looked up, at a loss for the first time in what felt like forever, staring almost sightlessly at the mist covered path that the Magma leader had disappeared down.

Her gaze turned to the slowly growing mass of opponents before her.

She tongued her split lip, wondering idly when she had gotten it.

_Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud._

Someone screamed.

She was a little worried that it had been her.

'_Too loud…'_

Silver flashed, red spilled and flew and arced and was it supposed to be that _pretty_?

Had it always been this easy? Like breathing, she could breath.

_Breath in, Breath out, In, Out._

Another fist flew towards her face. But it was OK, the hand wouldn't be there for long.

Another scream, why couldn't they be quiet? She was quiet and she was much more upset than they would _ever_ be.

Silly people.

Stupid people.

Another one moved forward.

_Lub-Dub, Lub-Dub, Lub-Dub, Lub-Dub_

There was something on her face, pulling on her eyelashes and matting down her hair.

_Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip._

"ALEXZA!"

Oh. That one sounded, different.

"Alexza… put it down."

Familiar. Not as pointless.

"You – No! Don't go towards her! You idiot!"

Oh, more black. Always with the black or the blue or the red. Truly those must be the colors of suffering. They were all she could see now, after all.

The red especially. There was a lot of red now.

Maybe it wasn't so bad… Oh. Another color. A newer color. Brown.

The blonde's head lolled curiously onto her shoulder, peering up into brown eyes without really seeing.

Manicured hands shook her gently, red running through the once clean fingers as they held on.

"Alexza… Look at me."

Emerald orbs slowly closed in a slow, deliberate, blink.

And again, and again, and again.

Faster and faster, until the water overflowed the dam and she saw Kassy Mitchell standing before her. The older trainer's pokemon were holding off the remaining grunts. The only creatures stupid enough to step over the bodies of their own in an attempt to get _closer_ to what had terminated their existences.

"Kassy…"

Alexza snapped back into reality. She looked down, sickened and stricken, at the carved-up corpses around her.

Was that a _hand_ on her sneaker?

She didn't look back down.

"Kassy…"

A hand ruffled her hair, after hesitating for a moment, but it quickly pulled back – the palm turned pink from the trapped and drying blood in the blonde's mane.

Alexza hiccupped and rubbed at her eyes, not looking down. Not acknowledging the death dealt around her. Probably _by_ her, if the slick red knife in her hand meant anything.

Kassy moved slowly towards her, her hand covering Alexza's own. Easing the knife out of her loosened grip.

A grunt yelled and charged forward.

Kassy sheathed the steel in the man's thigh without a backwards glance.

Alexza looked down the path that her target had raced down. The younger trainer turned, torn between helping her friend and the man she had dedicated her short life to hunting.

Kassy tossed Alexza grin as her experienced Pokémon simply decimated the mass of the grunts in front of her.

"Go ahead kiddo, I've got it under control back here."

Alexza paused, eyeing the path again.

"But there are so many… and more are coming –"

"Pfft! Don't worry about me! These guys are nothing! Just trash taken up space and our time! Go get him Alexza! Leave these idiots to me!"

"Hey!" one insulted grunt shouted, "Don't talk about us like we're not here!"

The older girl frowned at the rude man before ordering her Shiftry to blow him into the ocean he was desperately trying to expand.

"Shut up you worthless zealot… Oh! Alexza!"

Alexza paused, half way down the path, Kassy barely insight.

"What?"

"You're not allowed to fight with the one called 'Blaze'! Ya hear me? Don't go near him! He's…"

Kassy paused remembering the dark smile that crossed the man's face as he grinned to his suppliers.

_"This'll end that little bitch right from the start. I'll take down the biggest annoyance Team Magma has – and then I'll make him proud."_

"He's all mine! You got that? The black haired crazy dude is mine!"

Alexza sent a shaky grin back to her along with a red-coated thumbs-up before running furiously up the dirt road.

Kassy ducked as a fist sailed past her face and threw another body off the cliff into the water.

"Good luck kiddo…"

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_Faster, faster, come on! Come on!_

There he was. A shock of red in the rolling grey mists, impossible to miss once you caught a glimpse.

Alexza released Static and charged forward without a sound,

_Pit. Pat. Pit. Pat. Pit. Pat._

"Ah. The child has arrived."

…and dug her heals deep into dewy earth to come to a staggering stop in front of the shrine a few mere inches behind her Target's back.

(Because, apparently, the top of a several hundred layered mountain was _the best place ever_ to put a shrine to the fallen.

Fuckers.)

The leader of Team Magma stood casually before the shrine, the gun in his left hand confidently resting inside of the old shrine keeper's mouth.

"Now, now, girl. Where _are_ your manners? Did your parents neglect to teach you any? Tut tut. I was just telling Mrs. Phantom all _about _you're annoying little grudge against my people. We've reached the conclusion that it's time for you to _go_, little girl."

The elderly woman's brown eyes stared up at Alexza, overflowing with terror.

The young girl stared back, guilt churning up bile in her stomach, before narrowing her gaze upon the leader before her.

Guilt to Anger.

Denial to Rage.

An old and easy shift, greased by the cogs of time and practice.

'_Interesting…'_

The safety clicked off.

"Let's make a game of it, girl. As a child trainer you should still be fond of those, no?"

Alexza took a step forward. The old woman screamed around the frame of the gun.

"My son always was. Let's play his favorite game…"

He pulled a second gun from within his long jacket and pointed it between Alexza's eyes, stopping her advance cold.

A slash of a smile appeared on the man's face.

"It's called 'Pick the Victim'."

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End file.
